Bellingham’s Polecat plays up-tempo, largely instrumental Americana-roots-bluegrass-folk-reggae — forget it, let’s just say Polecat plays dance music and they play it well. “We are trying to move away from any sort of real specific designation for our sound,” vocalist and guitarist Jeremy Elliott tells EW.

“We coined ‘stomp-Americana-world music,’ and that’s the closest we’ve found,” Elliott continues. “We incorporate so many different styles into our sound and move from genre to genre within songs, so the broader the term the better. The one very consistent aspect is that people can and do dance hard.”

Polecat is touring in support of 2013’s Fathoms, a record showcasing the quintet’s eclectic set of influences. The track “Skankles” has a high-energy ska backbeat; “Domino” features an authentic, colloquial Irish fiddle; and “Stratego” is a straight-ahead instrumental jazz tune featuring electric guitar.

While Polecat is just getting started, you’ve probably already heard of one of the band members — even if it is just their tour van. “Our tour van’s name is Michael Bolton,” Elliott jokes. “We love him. Anytime something starts to go wrong, we just pop in one of our Michael Bolton tapes and the smooth voice of the man himself cures whatever ailment Bolton is suffering.” (Don’t be alarmed; nothing from Fathoms sounds anything like Michael Bolton.)

“Expect to dance and sweat and smile,” Elliott says of Polecat’s first show at Cozmic.

Polecat plays 9 pm Friday, Aug. 29, at Cozmic; $5.