Described as “creative,” “inventive” and “free,”the band Jackie-O Motherfucker is set to flood the ’Sco next Thursday with a unique sound that often defies categorization.

Comprised of an often-fluctuating group of artists, JOMF is less a band and more an artists’ collective. The current line-up performs on reeds, keyboards, turntables and all manner of guitar and percussion, as well as video and digital media.

Often compared to Godspeed! You Black Emperor (with whom they toured after the release of their album Liberation) as well as New York’s No Neck Blues Band, JOMF is unafraid to break nearly every boundary of musical expectation. Their songs often ramble on for upwards of 17 minutes, though the first eight or nine minutes remain quiet exposition. One would be hard-pressed to find a traditional melodic line or hook, yet there is a quality to JOFM’s music that is undeniably American. Though many of their pieces could be heard as a collage of ambient noise and unexpected instrumental cries, shouts and hoots, their sound is rooted in traditional folk, jazz and rock.

Formed in 1994 by musicians Nester Bucket and Tom Greenwood out of Portland, Ore., Jackie-O Motherfucker has created music and toured continuously ever since. Alchemy, the group’s first LP, was produced, recorded and distributed by the duo at small gigs across the United States. Gradually, the group grew like an organism, acquiring members and branching out into the most avant garde territory in experimental music while they set down roots in (and drew influence from) the cities of New Orleans, Baltimore and New York.

JOMF put out several micro-pressed LPs on varying labels prior to 1999, when they released their first album on compact disc with the Road Cone label. Fig. 5, and its follow up, Liberation, gained the attention of international critics for its innovative and often-termed “weird” sound.

The group’s newest release, 2003’s CD reprint of the Wow and The Magick Fire Music LPs, is supported in concert by original members Greenwood and Bucket, as well as a group of musicians whose talent crosses instruments and genres.

Claiming influences as myriad as free jazz, Xeroxed art, graffiti and noise rock, JOMF promises to provide an intricate long-form musical performance bound to captivate more than just the listener’s ears.

JOMF will be supported by Oberlin acts Zohar and The Skeletons.