Workman's Club, Wellington Quay, Dublin Thurs 8pm €18 01-6706692 entertainment.ie

Whirligig has been knocking Dublin gig-goers out of their comfort zone for the last year with a series of one-night-only mini-festivals of new music at Dublin’s Workman’s Club. Daring to be different this week are two internationally renowned bands that explore the frontiers of improvised music in very different ways.

First up are Scandinavian iconoclasts The Thing (left), featuring Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustaffson and the Norwegian rhythm team of bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love. The Thing’s energetic, punk-ish brand of free jazz runs the gamut from PJ Harvey and The White Stripes to Don Cherry and Ornette Coleman.

Heading the bill are hip New York band Snakeoil, who have just released their debut album on ECM to international acclaim. Led by saxophonist Tim Berne, darling of Manhattan’s fertile downtown scene, and featuring clarinetist Oscar Noriega, pianist Matt Mitchell and drummer Ches Smith, Snakeoil tear up the rule book, blending complex through-written compositions with high levels of creativity and free-flowing improvisation.

Expect the unexpected.