The last few days have been intense yet enjoyable for funk-reggae-rock outfit Mindil Beach Markets, a British Columbian quintet which draws its name from a hip Australian beach community. In addition to playing a show nearly nightly in a different city during the infant stages of a brief-but-broad West Coast tour, its members are experiencing their first taste of the good old U.S. of A.


“There are a lot of little differences,” says singer/guitarist and bassist Pat Codere, evoking Pulp Fiction-royale-with-cheese moments. “It’s cool being out of your country for the first time.”


Everyone in the band unanimously agrees that the biggest (and sweetest) difference they’ve noticed between the two countries thus far is the price of beer: It’s much cheaper here than in their native Canada. 


Codere and the rest of the Mindil crew have been rapidly playing their way down the northwest coast through Medford, Ore., Eureka, Calif. and eventually, Monterey, which represents their Thursday stop at Jose’s.


Mindil recently released its full-length debut, which Codere says is a rock-reggae oriented album with a touch of ska. There are the familiar fingerprints of Sublime and Red Hot Chili Peppers, but the influences also include the blues and even some elements of hip-hop.


The LP’s opening track, “Working Man Blues,” represents that extreme genre mash-up, with raunchy harmonica, rich acoustic guitar riffage, scat, horns and quintessential reggae rhythm. 


On tour, the group’s been highly motivated to give U.S. citizens a taste of their music through free CDs, which they’ve been personally handing out in every new city they visit. Recently, they shelled out 700 in Portland.


“We want to get our music out there in any way possible,” Codere says. “We want to do the West Coast circuit every two months so we figure if we plant the seed now, we’ll be able to grow a fan base over time – and besides, these days, with the Internet, music is still free at the end of the day.”


Mindil’s upcoming Monterey gig originally stemmed from a Craigslist post – and the response Mindil received from Jonah & The Whalewatchers’ drummer John Tallon.


“They put an ad up that they were coming through the area on tour and they were looking for bands to play gigs with them,” Tallon says. “I responded and they checked out our band and they asked us to play the show with them.”


The longtime local reggae outfit has been working on new music that’s slightly different from its usual roots style.


“Some of the new stuff we’ve been doing has more of a Latin feel to it,” Tallon says. “We’re getting more into the samba-reggae style; reggae has always been a mixture of a number of styles of music and it’s continuing to evolve.”


There’s more free music where that comes from: The night begins with the instrumental prog rock of the Strawberry Girls and a local metal trio called The Strange Three. 


MINDIL BEACH MARKETS plays 9pm, Thursday, Oct. 13, at Jose’s Underground Lounge, 638 Wave St., Monterey. Free. 655-4419.