Lamont “Bim” Thomas, the man responsible for Cleveland’s Obnox, has a restless streak that braids with his knowledge of every river and tributary in rock & roll to create some of the most fascinating and raw music coming out today. He’s met his match with Orville Neeley (OBN IIIs, Bad Sports), who has a similar healthy disrespect for genre conventions, and along with the OBN IIIs’ lead guitarist, Tom Triplett, has formed yet another outlet for his muse.

Recorded under the band name Blaxxx, their debut EP, For No Apparent Reason (12XU Records), is four tracks tracing the hollowed out buildings and flaming wreckage created by those collaborative sparks flying. “Let Me Hold Your Hand” is the standout, a six-minute pulverizing slow jam with that off-kilter pocket Bim owns more effectively than any drummer in rock & roll and a half-snarled vocal slipping in and oozing around the sides and up through the crevices of Triplett’s battered and cracking guitar and over a bed of Neeley’s minimal, pulsing bass.

Part of why “Let Me Hold Your Hand” works is because it’s sandwiched between two fiery burners. “Cut ’Em Down” is a swinging, danceable slab of distortion with an irresistible hook and slippery verses that alternate between woozy crooning and raw soul shouting, with a spoken interlude straight out of a party record. It’s Bim’s best and weirdest vocal on the EP, and the empathy between rhythm section and guitar never sacrifices the swing or hookiness, no matter how much they love a gnarled surface. Meanwhile, “Get a Hold of Your Life” is a whirlwind of cymbals and snare. A revolving chainsaw guitar lick dissolves into scratching, rises like a gospel organ, and combines with a rich, ’70s-styled bassline that sticks in your head well after the song stops.

This record uses an improvisational, jazz-influenced aesthetic to create raw, undiluted rock that isn’t beholden to purism or genre boundaries. Blaxxx plays with the elements of records they love, but treats everything as something they can use, reconstruct, and hold up to the light in a way very uniquely theirs.