Squarely fitting Minus the Bear into a musical genre is about as difficult as finding a primo spot for a semi-truck in the Olive Garden parking lot on a Saturday evening.

The five-man Seattle group incorporates sonic experimentation and prog rock influences into its sound. No Minus the Bear album embodied this more than 2007's "Planet of Ice," in which the group played everything from acoustic guitars, tambourines and swizzle stix to snare drums, organ pipes and maybe even the kitchen sink.

"We were in a prog rock phase, and our mindset for that record was 'Let's just play everything we can as much as we can all the time,'" says Minus the Bear drummer Erin Tate.

This was a deviation from the band's first two albums, "Highly Refined Pirates" (2002) and "Menos El Oso" (2005), which featured more indie rock and pop sensibilities.

And just when everyone thought they could get a read on this band and predict its aural evolution, Minus the Bear released the two-song EP "Into the Mirror" just weeks ago that sounded like nothing anyone had ever heard from the band.

The first song, "Into the Mirror," is a groovy, soulful number fueled by keyboardist Alex Rose's synthesizer and Tate's downbeats. The song also features an interlude by vocalist Rachel Flotard of Visqueen.

"Broken China," the other track from the EP, is an even larger departure. Simply put, it rocks hard. With guitarist Dave Knudson's fuzzy guitar wails and an outro reminiscent of video game laser guns shooting left and right, this is about as close to a headbanging anthem as a Minus the Bear song will get.

Tate says both songs will be on Minus the Bear's upcoming yet-to-be-titled album, but that "Into the Mirror" better suits the vibe of the new record.

"To us, that song ("Broken China") kind of sticks out like a sore thumb," Tate says. "It was the first song we wrote for the new record. But then you write 15 more songs, and those fit better."

Tate says the upcoming album will focus more on songwriting and feature "more smooth, dancey jams."

Great. We can now add "smooth" and "dancey" to the lengthy list of words that try to describe the sound of Minus the Bear. Maybe eclectic rock works best.

"I don't really have a description," Tate laughs. "I just kind of say rock and roll. That way you can sound like whatever you want."

The band hopes to have its new album released by February 2010. Until then, Minus the Bear will continue to tour. The quintet will perform at 8 p.m. Nov. 23 at the Granada in Lawrence, Kan. Tickets are $15 to $17. For more information, visit www.thegranada.com.