Take note: Jimkata is not a cool electronic rock band. I mean, they are. The band’s new album, In Motion, is a triumph of swirling analog synths and breezy pop hooks. It’ll make your body groove. But dig deeper. You’ll be rewarded with something more…personal.

“There’s a lot of great music out there that makes you move, but you don’t remember it afterwards,” says Jimkata frontman Evan Friedell. “We’re OK with embracing our emotional side. I think we have a little bit of soul. We’re embracing all the things that make classic songs.” Friends since middle school, Friedell, Aaron Gorsch and Packy Lunn infuse Jimkata — which, yes, is named after the so-bad-it’s-good 1985 gym-fu caper Gymkata—with both an adventurous musical streak and an emotional core.

Over the past half-decade, the Ithaca-based band has operated without a record label, publicist or support system of any kind. “We just road dogged it,” says Friedell. “It’s all DIY. Doing 150 shows a year, sleeping on floors, recording songs along the way. We built everything organically, all word of mouth. The advice we got when we started was ‘Just go out and play. It’ll pay off.’”

“We’re pretty high-energy on stage,” says Friedell. “We tour with a light show and improvise a lot. We’ve toured so much, and experienced every scenario, good or bad. So we know how to play live and create some energy.” And for Jimkata, it’s about finding the right energy—that balance between heart and mind. Says Friedell: “Ideally, we’re writing songs where someone says, ‘I know that feeling. That song picks me up. It has real meaning to me.’"