What: Kinetix and Juno What?!

When: Doors at 9 p.m., show at 10 p.m., Friday

Where: Cabooze, 917 Cedar Ave., Minneapolis

Cost: $12 advance, $14 day of the show

Ages: 18+

Kinetix epitomizes the ski-bum vision of Colorado. The eight-year-old, five-piece band is energetic on stage but laid-back when going about their business.

Originally a funky rock group, Kinetix gained notoriety around the Denver area for their spirited stage presence, graduating from parties to venues and from Colorado to the nation.

“People always told us we had a bunch of energy,” singer and guitarist Adam Lufkin said. “We came up with Kinetix as it is energy in motion.”

Their fan base is drawn to Kinetix’s hybrid sound — their ability to channel alternative rock vocal styles with keyboard riffs and a syncopated rhythm section.  

They appear on the festival circuit, constantly touring and attempting the near impossible as an unsigned independent, hitting it big.

They seized an opportunity to play at Red Rocks, and their last album, “Let Me In,” charted on iTunes.

“[At Red Rocks] we did ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and had 10,000 people singing along with us,” guitarist Jordan Linit said. “There was an intense amount of energy being transferred back and forth.”

Generating that spirit and how to go about putting people in a good mood was the subject of much of their first eight years together as a band.

From the earlier, funkier pop of their self-titled 2005 album, the group drifted more to straight rock. There was an almost Dave Matthews Band-like quality to their tunes.

The sound of then-drummer Jack Gargan’s kit was eerily reminiscent of Carter Beauford’s contributions on Dave Matthews’ recordings, and the vocal stylings of Adam Lufkin and Eric Blumenfeld only aided in this comparison.

For a group of talented individuals to put out material that was hard to differentiate between other, more established groups was disappointing.

But they realized this, too.

“We have been enjoying higher energy, funky electropop,” Linit said. “We’re working on a new EP and have a couple songs done — music that can generate a back and forth.”

That back and forth changes from night to night. Working on the EP happens a bit on stage, too, as the band plays with and hashes out ideas for all to see.

“We’re all trained in improvisation,” Linit said. “We all went to school for jazz, though none of us are jazz musicians.”

Now that they are heading back to their roots, expect more songs like their popular early tune, “People Start Hoppin’,” a brilliantly executed but fairly standard party starter.

“When we’re on stage, it’s about the most fun I’m having in my life,” Linit said. “I look forward to it every day — it’s what keeps us going.”