When The Armed released their debut album Untitled in 2015, they humbly described themselves as a “punk rock band from Detroit.” But it became clear within just a few short years that such simplistic descriptions don’t adequately capture the surreal stunts and misdirection that surrounded the band. Figuring out who the band really was soon became the subject of debate on subreddits and internet comment threads. By the release of their 2018 album Only Love, bizarre theories about them had begun to circulate. Among them, the idea that the people in their press photos aren’t actually in the band; or that Convergeguitarist/producer Kurt Ballou is the project’s mastermind; or more broadly, that it’s all an elaborate hoax or performance art project. Everything the band did only furthered the air of obfuscation surrounding them: the absence of personnel listing in their liner notes, live shows featuring a “swamp monster” parading around the audience, a music video starring The Room’s (2003) Tommy Wiseau, and a single titled “FT. FRANK TURNER” with artwork depicting Frank Carter accompanied by a music video also starred the swamp monster.