I’ll be honest, I purchased The Samuel Jackson Five strictly for the name. I can’t quite remember, but I’m pretty sure I saw their name under one of those “listener’s also bought” type categories when purchasing the new album by Russian Circles. I suppose they both somewhat fit into the Chicago math rock scene. However, there are two key differences between the two bands. The Samuel Jackson Five has a much more apparent jazz influence and even a little experimental rock from time to time. The other difference is that The Samuel Jackson Five isn’t from Chicago, but instead Oslo, Norway.
Russian Circles, although hailing from the Chicago math rock scene, doesn’t really fall into the genre exclusively. I’m sure I’ll get some criticism out of this, but I think they’ve found a really solid mix of the two genres. I hear a mixture of Isis , God is an Astronaut, and Pelican… with just the right amount of math rock.