Cage the Elephant is making modern rock radio safe to listen to again.

The Kentucky-based band gets airplay on WRZX-FM (103.3), a station that typically favors one-dimensional dullards Disturbed, Godsmack and Nickelback.

When WRZX invited Cage the Elephant to play its annual X-Fest concert in September, vocalist Matt Shultz delivered a loose, impulsive and primitive performance that more or less stunned the Verizon Wireless Music Center crowd.

The band, known for Top 5 modern rock single “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked,” returns to Indianapolis Tuesday to serve as supporting act for Silversun Pickups at the Vogue.

During a recent interview, Shultz — younger brother of Cage the Elephant guitarist Brad Shultz — talked about his wild style:

You seem to feel your music in an extreme way. If I asked you to verbalize what you experience during a show, how would you answer?

That’s hard to explain. If you have a good show, you normally don’t remember a whole lot about what happened. I wouldn’t say it’s like being possessed, but it’s almost like a trance. The more the audience is into it, the deeper it goes.

If Cage the Elephant becomes one of the bands that helps turn the tide for rock radio, that’s not an easy job. Is it awkward to play festivals with bands that represent radio’s present state?

Sometimes it’s weird. Yeah, it is weird, actually. I saw someone do an outfit change in the middle of their show. I couldn’t believe it. To me, that’s everything that is anti-music. I believe in performance if it’s real. But when performance is pre-planned, it’s lifeless.

Do you and Brad fit the stereotype of brawling rock ‘n’ roll brothers?

No. It’s mostly brotherly bickering over stuff. We get along for the most part. At this point, it’s more than knowing each other well or being close brothers: We know each other’s smell. You know when to walk away.

I’m sure I’m not the first person to say your video for “Back Against the Wall” looks a lot like what we saw on MTV during the first half of the 1990s. Was that intentional?

Yes. I’ve always loved bands like Nirvana, Jane’s Addiction, the Pixies and the Meat Puppets. We just recorded a new album, which is heavily influenced by the Pixies. I’m really excited about it.

Not every American band gets to live in London for two years and play there as much as Cage the Elephant does. Has that been a fun perk?

There were some dark times there; I won’t lie. We were away from family, and the first five months were depressing. It was mixed emotions. It was great when we were onstage, but during your down time you were swallowed in a hole of sadness. At least I was.