My highly subjective (and most likely inaccurate) interpretation of chaos theory is that seemingly random occurrences are actually orchestrated happenings. The same could be said of The Social Engagement, the full-length debut from local hard rock adventurers Good Guys. The Guys’ sound seems to erratically jump from metal to psychedelia to lounge to ’80s industrial, often all in the same song. However, while this may seem like aimless wandering by a group of ADD-afflicted musicians, a theme emerges as the album unfolds: the method to the madness is that the madness is the method.

The smattering of styles actually gives The Social Engagement a sense of cohesion in that Good Guys take the junkyard sampling of early Beck and relentlessly run with it in nearly every song. Often, the excursions still revolve around a singular melodic theme, as if Good Guys took the liberty of covering themselves in disparate styles. Even “In the Dark,” one of the tracks closest to being straightforward, rides a metal-lounge groove that sounds as if Marilyn Manson got his start crooning on the Vegas strip. It is a well-composed, smart track, but Good Guys stop short of taking themselves too seriously as vocalist Jeremy Johnson sings sexual innuendos with the subtly of the kids from Superbad. But even this juxtaposition of contrasting elements serves to offset the morbid undercurrent that flows through the music. Whether they are playing death-metal, death-lounge, death-bossa nova or death-whatever, Good Guys keep the mood mostly light.

The genre-jumping reaches its apex on “Calma Sangrenta.” The track moves from a hard rock dirge to swing to ambient noise before ending with gritty, sweaty metal as if the band were challenging itself to come up with a genre it couldn’t gloriously deface. On The Social Engagement, Good Guys forego merely making a collection of good songs and opt to dish out a set of compositions fighting to out-weird each other, resulting in a strangely satisfying journey.