The duo of Jim Taylor and Waylon K. Smith, otherwise known as The Positronic Cats, is a local group out of Greencastle, Pennsylvania.

The duo is known for its post-apocalyptic progressive-folk sound and Taylor’s abstract, allegorical lyrics.

Together for two years, the duo travels up and down the East Coast playing shows in Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey, to name a few.

Taylor, who switches between classical mandolin and electric mandolin for the duo’s live shows, describes his style of playing as “kind of odd,” a phrase that fits the band’s persona well.

“I wanted to develop something different,” Taylor said of the group’s sound and his own playing.

For a mandolin player, Taylor’s inspiration comes from an unlikely source — James Hetfield, of the legendary metal band Metallica.

“I want to go where his [Smith’s] chords weren’t,” Taylor said.

With songs such as “A Waltz for the Sentient” and “Love is Impossible,” The Positronic Cats have a sound that Smith, vocalist and guitarist, describes as “songs about love, revenge and the future.”

The duo’s sound is hard to place in any tried-and-true genre, but will turn the heads of music lovers because of the incredible originality which it displays.

The source of Smith’s eerie, cinematic lyrics is in science fiction books, of which Smith is an avid reader.

“[I am] a huge reader of science fiction, [I] think it tells deeper stories than regular fiction,” Smith said.

It is obvious that Smith is keenly aware that his lyrics are strange to some and even jokes before songs about the “robot apocolypse.”

Smith creates scenes and stories from his “cinematic style [of] story telling,” to generate songs that play out like pictures in the listener’s mind.

The Positronic Cats’ album, “Love is Impossible,” is currently available on iTunes and Spotify.

Key tracks off the album include “Heart of the Sea” and “Love is Impossible.”

The duo will return to Pennsylvania in October, after a string of dates in New Jersey, to play the John Allison Public House in Smith and Taylor’s hometown of Greencastle on Oct. 30 at 9 p.m.

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