How I Became the Bomb has won praise from RollingStone.com, Billboard magazine and the Guardian UK for its pop-music base layered with various elements of sound from darkness to '80s electronica and catchy bubblegum hooks, and like most bands, this was no overnight success. Two members, Jon Burr (lead vocals, keytar) and Adam Richardson (synth, vocoder, vocals), originally met in a Rome, GA high school in 1997, but it wasn’t until 2005 and three more members later—Andy Spore (drums), Denis Deck (guitar, vocals) and Ricky Bizness (bass, vocals)—that the group finally found itself writing songs and shorting out the power in its self-storage-facility-turned-practice-space in Tennessee. Around the same time and with only four shows under its belt, the band began recording its debut EP, Let’s Go!, and soon scored a slot on the European festival circuit performing with the likes of Arcade Fire, Jarvis Cocker and The Jesus and Mary Chain.

But just as national and international press began to take notice, the foursome went into hiding, as it were, for roughly 18 months, emerging on Guy Fawkes Day 2008 with the first of several digital-only, three-song volumes, Vol. 1: Who Dares Wins. Now, with four volumes available for free download on the Internet, How I Became the Bomb will bring its oddly informed pop rock to the Caledonia Lounge with Marshmallow Coast and Simple Teek on Aug. 12. Admission will cost you $5 if you're of drinking age and $7 for those 18 and older. The band’s inspiration, Dr. Strangelove, would, at the very least, be intrigued.