Hey, just don’t call it math rock

It sounds awesome, but what exactly is it? Every so often, a band will bestow outside-the-box music upon the world, and while it captivates, no one knows what to call it. Battles is one such band.

The four-piece’s debut full-length, “Mirrored” (out on Warp Records), is a throbbing collection of weird rhythms and sharp changes in melody that exists almost entirely as an instrumental affair. There are occasional vocals, but hardly ever lyrics. It’s been called everything from the second coming of Glitter Beat to “post-everything,” but most journalists choose to call it math rock (a subgenre characterized by constantly changing and complex meters).

“I don’t think our music has much to do with math rock,” says Battles guitarist-keyboardist Ian Williams, who does both simultaneously. “I think ‘Mirrored’ has more of a pulse, and it’s not like we’re counting the 13th [meter].... To me, math rock almost means a game. I never really liked [the term]. It’s not sexy. But I’ve realized that if they don’t call you one thing, they’ll call you another. It’s just the limitation of language, so each word has its own confinement that’s kinda unappealing.”

Together, Williams and fellow members Tyondai Braxton (son of prolific jazz musician Anthony Braxton), drummer John Stanier and guitarist Dave Konopka create music that succeeds because of its accessible personality. There may not be a chorus, but on an anthemic song such as “Atlas,” there is an undeniable drive that builds until a plodding energy turns unpredictable.

“It’s 50% technical -- computers, wires, loop pedals and eight amplifiers -- so it’s sort of a machine, and so one thing logically has to happen before the next thing for the songs to build correctly,” Williams says. “But on the other hand, it’s organic and sort of floppy. We don’t really think of it as improvising, but there are elements that move around each night.”

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Battles, the Troubadour, 9081 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. 8 p.m. Saturday. $12 (sold out). (310) 276-6168; www.troubadour.com.