Nels Cline is an unlikely rock star. Sure, the 51-year-old guitarist has played with Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth and Mike Watt of the Minutemen, but until recently he was mainly known for his work in Los Angeles’ brainy improvisational music scene. Today, though, most fans probably think of Cline as the inventive guitarist for Wilco. On Draw Breath, rockers won’t be disappointed by the hard driving “Confection” or the delicate “Angel of Angels,” but the album by Cline’s long-running trio refuses to dwell in a single genre for more than a few minutes. The album is proof that Cline’s range extends almost endlessly in all directions.

At times, Draw Breath is as much about sound as music. “An Evening at Pops’,” for example, starts with a skittering noise that morphs into menacing power chords and then dissolves into delicate notes overlaid with sweeps of feedback. Is it too obvious to call a Los Angeles-based musician’s work cinematic? Much of Draw Breath could be the soundtrack for a Hollywood epic, from the spaghetti Western tinge of the opening “Caved-In Heart Blues” to the delicate acoustic playing on “Recognize I.”

Draw Breath is unquestionably hyperactive album, and even though the listener may occasionally want him to linger a little longer, Cline makes sure that no one gets bored.