Kittens For Christian, named for an underground comic, has been making waves on the L.A. indie circuit for years and is finally picking up some positive mainstream press for its raw, wiry sound. The group’s latest, Privilege Of Your Company, is an eclectic, hard-charging blend of rock that zips around the room like someone who drank Red Bull while tripping on acid.

“We were influenced by so much, but I think the influences that come to the surface more are a lot of early punk, post-punk and stuff like that,” lead singer/bassist Hiram Fleites recently told The Badger Herald. “We get compared to The Cure a lot, and I’m not nuts about that, but people say that my vocals kind of sound like David Byrne, so that’s really great.”

System Of A Down frontman Serj Tankian executive-produced the disc and lends his vocals to the slow-burning melody of “Had A Plan,” one of the more melodic and dramatic songs on Privilege Of Your Company.

“Working with Serj has been great,” Fleites said. “He was involved in the pre-production and executive-produced the record, so he’s just awesome. He brings a lot of energy, enthusiasm and open-mindedness to the whole process.”

Fleites, who writes all the lyrics for Kittens For Christian, favors the music first and sees lyrics as secondary.

“It’s always music first,” Fleites said. “I’m actually kind of singing by default. Years ago we went through a few singers, and we got sick of that. So I just started singing, and that’s how we became a three-piece back in ’97.”

Having a bass player as a lead singer may be uncommon, but Fleites holds allegiance to his instrument of choice.

“I’ve always been a bass player first, so it’s always been about the music first, and then I work vocals around it,” he said.

The music on Privilege Of Your Company has the feel of an independent-film soundtrack. “Under The Covers” bounces with psychedelic angst, “Water” ricochets around the speakers with the energy of self-titled “Face To Face,” and “Why” has a spooky, discombobulated energy that summons the sound of U2.

Fleites’ approach to songwriting shows in Kittens’ songs, which are unorthodox in nature and make use of unique time changes and abstract, anomalous lyrics that conjure L.A. and its underground movement as well as any other group on the club circuit.

“It’s different,” Fleites said. “It’s not your classic verse-chorus-verse structure, but the producer, Dave Trumfio, helped us strike a balance between the two.” Lyrically, Fleites leans toward themes of the human condition rather than traditional forms of storytelling.

“The themes are very humanistic,” Fleites said. “I don’t like to tell stories; I go for more vague lyrics, but I definitely think you can certainly get a mood from them.”

Like many aspiring acts, Kittens For Christian approach live shows seriously — after all, it’s the live venue that is the marketplace for underground acts. “I guess what I loved the most about going to shows when I was younger was getting my melon twisted,” Fleites said.

“I think there’s a generation that think they’ve seen it all. There’s people who’ve seen all the movements and tend to be jaded, but there’s still 14-, 15- and 16-year-old kids out there who haven’t seen it all yet.”

Kittens For Christian’s ultimate goal is not unlike the dreams of many other aspiring superstars. “I want to keep making music,” Fleites said. “I want to take the band on an international stage and be able to tour. It seems kind of weird to say, ‘I want to make enough money to do that,’ but I guess that’s the crux of it.”

Fleites also has goals of leaving a legacy. “I’d like to eventually have a song or two that sticks around or gets on the map,” he said. “We just want to hone the craft, just get better and better and hopefully be a little influential to other bands at some point.”