Sometimes you have to wonder if a band makes the kind of sound it does just so that it can’t be defined.

That’s how I feel about the Flobots. Imagine locking Cake and Eminem in a room together with the string section of a symphony orchestra. That’s the best way I can think of describing what you get with this group. It’s like what Linkin Park tries to be, but only succeeds at mediocrely (it’s a real word, the dictionary told me so).

The band’s been around for several years now, and I’d heard of them before. However, it wasn’t until this year’s album, “Fight with Tools,” that I listened to them. You may have heard “Handlebars,” the record’s first single. On the track, lead singer Johnny 5 (cute, I love the “Short Circuit” reference) raps deftly along to horns and strings, and it pretty well demonstrates what to expect from the rest of the record, and most likely what you can expect at their Bumbershoot performance next month. Though the rapping is nothing to shout about, the instrumentation makes the band well worth a listen.

The Flobots are performing on the Exhibition Hall Stage at 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 1.