Except that you can't buy the alien frame for another 4 months or so.

Look, this crap is all the same. It all comes from Maxway or Kinesis, it's all generic tubing, and none of the geometries are that life-changing. The lugged stuff is coming along because there's demand for it, but I'm not sure why people are going gaga for totally generic lugs, even if some of them are shiny. It doesn't matter which brand you buy, if one of the completes has the mix of parts you want, go for it, otherwise get a frame and build it up. Spicer, Alien, IRO, Surly, Bianchi, Jamis, Specialized, who cares? This is basic stuff coming off of the same production lines as every $400 hybrid and $650 Sora road bike out there, and yet every time some "company" (read: glorified shipping depot) cuts and pastes another OEM product into their catalog or maybe even makes tiny spec changes to what they're ordering, everybody goes OMG MUST DISCUSS MUST DISCUSS!!!!!111. It's an entry level frame, buy one that has the setup you want and get on with your life.