In the arena of enigmatic rock-and-roll genius, Mayo Thompson’s sustained relevance stands in stark contrast to the imploded brilliance of Syd Barrett’s brief career, or the isolation that defined Captain Beefheart’s retreat into memory. Initially known for making incomprehensible sounds and anti-music gestures like soundtracking a melting block of ice, Thompson and his group the Red Krayola are variously hailed as psychedelic pranksters, proto-punks and “post-rock” pioneers who pursued abstruse art-music decades before anybody else realized “rock” was not enough. With no fixed lineup and no real “hits” to canonize, Thompson mutates the Red Krayola according to the energies of its revolving members, insuring constant reinvention. In the late 1960s the group played seemingly nonsensical noise with the likes of avant-folk legend John Fahey and psychedelic burnout Roky Erikson. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Thompson pushed pop music’s verbal potential to the limit, in collaboration with the avant-garde media collective Art and Language, and also accepted an invitation to join art-punk luminaries Pere Ubu. The most recent phase of Thompson’s career commenced in the mid 1990s, when avant-rockers Jim O’Rourke and David Grubbs brought Thompson to Chicago to record with members of the city’s acclaimed post-rock scene. Check out this fascinatingly skewed group—which this time around includes Tortoise drummer John McEntire and bassist Noel Kupersmith of Brokeback .

Sunday, August 6 at 8pm. Soundlab 110 Pearl St. (440-5907). $10.