Music on the “experimental” side isn’t always easy to listen to. Sometimes, you have to “really want it,” as my old junior high football coach used to say — and that’s more than many music listeners are willing to give. Understandable, really — that’s why people like Miley Cyrus exist. Experimental music isn’t easily digested or compartmentalized. That’s the point. Most people don’t like to be challenged. Local wonder Sugar Beats, one of a small crop of Tacoma acts reverberating within a PNW experimental scene that’s strong in Olympia and pervasive in Portland, knows this all to well. And they don’t seem to give a shit — which is good. The band manages to glide a course rich with boundary bashing, yet not intolerably “experimental” — which is also good. Check the band at Bob’s Java Jive tonite, or on Saturday, Oct. 3 at the New Frontier if you bungle your first chance.

[Bob’s Java Jive, with Finding Fiction, Pete Stewart, Thursday, Sept. 10, 8 p.m., 2102 S. Tacoma Way, Tacoma, 253.475.9843]

[The New Frontier Lounge, Friday, Oct. 3, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, 253.572.4020]