Although it would be easy to dismiss Circus Devils as just another indie project by Guided by Voices founder Robert Pollard, the band encompasses a different form of musical exploration altogether, dismissing the styles of his solo endeavors for a more ominous and nightmarish tone exploring the themes of good and evil. A collaboration with siblings Todd Tobias and Tim Tobias, Circus Devils embrace a darker form of psychedelia and prog rock than GvB, with the pop hooks taken in a different direction, while sound collage was also a key ingredient on their 2001 debut, Ringworm Interiors. Their music became more organic but no less exploratory on later albums like 2009's Gringo and 2017's Laughs Last, and though the latter was to have been their final album, the trio returned with new music on 2023's Squeeze the Needle.