Brooklyn-based outfit One Ring Zero alighted upon the ingenious idea of getting best-selling authors to write their lyrics, and AS SMART AS WE ARE features words from some of the brightest lights of contemporary fiction. Rick Moody, Paul Auster, Margaret Atwood, Jonathan Ames, Dave Eggers, Jonathan Lethem, and others contributed to the album. As their name suggests, One Ring Zero make circus-influenced music with an indie spirit, using accordions, guitars, organ, theremin, and other unusual instrumentation to get their sound. The result is quirky, witty, literary, and a great deal of fun.