There's something inevitably futile about trying to classify Sound Tribe Sector 9. They're a jam band, sure. That's the scene that has embraced them, and, judging from their pictures, one might conclude that that's the scene in which they belong. But then, there are folk artists who identify with the punk scene; grunge bands who are associated alternately with the metal crowd or the pop crowd. It's misleading to simply call Sound Tribe Sector 9 a "jam band," as their sound is hardly reminiscent of Phish or the Grateful Dead. Nor do they have much in common with the Allman Brothers Band or the scores of others whose jams are Southern blues rock exercises in self-indulgence.

Sound Tribe Sector 9 are a different kind of jam band. They're the kind that incorporates jungle and techno beats, tape loops, and exotic synth sounds into their live jazz, funk, and rock grooves. But perhaps more striking than the styles that lay the foundation for STS9's sound is the very attitude they have about being a jam band.

Built as a collage of textures and mini-grooves, STS9's songs eschew the extended individual solos that are such an integral part of most jam bands. The art of Sound Tribe Sector 9 is meant truly to be a collective endeavor, and to their way of thinking, placing the spotlight on individual solos could only distance band members from the larger effort.

If that steadfast devotion to the collective seems a bit high-minded, one needs only to listen to recognize that Sound Tribe's music achieves a cohesiveness - and the band members maintain a connection to each other - that more solo-oriented jammers realize only in their finest performances.

It's this communal spirit that makes Sound Tribe Sector 9 so captivating and mystifying. It's part utopian, and certainly forward-looking with the band's use of modern sounds. But it's also primal and timeless in a way that the band's fascination with ancient Mayan civilization (we'll save that for another chapter and another day) begins to explore. Maybe it's something deep - a notion, perhaps, that the past and future at some point become one and the same - that makes Sound Tribe Sector 9 so powerful. More likely it's something much simpler: their grooves are unpredictable yet highly danceable. Whatever it is, though, Sound Tribe Sector 9 is winning over audiences everywhere they play.