Today in WTF: Lady Gaga, Perez Hilton Endorse Local Weirdos We Are the World

Eastsider eccentric dance/performance troupe We Are The World, whose new album Clay Stones was just released on Manimal Vinyl, are getting props from very unlikely quarters.

First Perez Hilton tweeted that he thinks M.I.A. is ripping them off:

Then the Lady Gaga herself tweeted that they are her favorite band, and video!:

We'd say "we told you so" but...ok, no but, we told you so on Jessica Hundley's LA Weekly feature a few weeks ago:

The group has certainly made an explosive crash-landing at the center of the L.A. scene. It is as if they arrived from some cold and distant planet, a place full of darkness, a deep, howling beauty and a low-lying fog in which strange shapes lurk.

We Are the World is the sum of four formidable parts. Multi-instrumentalist/composer Robbie Williamson and his wife, Megan Gold, are the act's musical element. The group's movement-and-dance element is created by choreographer Ryan Heffington and lead dancer Nina McNeely.

Williamson is adept at epic, synthesized landscapes -- ponderous white-noise symphonies and thrusting club beats. Gold's strong, throaty vocals lift these electronic musings and give them an evocative and sensual skin, which in turn informs Heffington and McNeely's alternately spare and expansive movements. It is a creative support system that pushes the boundaries of both live music and dance.

"We wanted to break the mold of your usual 'band plus backup dancer' formula," McNeely says, "and create an experience that tests the senses."

"Basically," Heffington adds, "we wanted an equality between dance and music."