In the spirit of alterna-rockers doing arena rock, there's a slightly tongue-in-cheek element to Mind Science of the Mind -- starting with the band's name, whose repetition brings to mind Spinal Tap's "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight." But Larson says that much of the album can be taken at face value.

"We're poking fun at rock, but only out of respect. Before punk came along it was rock, it was metal, and that's where we all come from. I like the rock aesthetic, even though I know how silly it is. What went into our album is the more traditional stuff, the things we've been listening to all our lives. Things like the Beatles and Prince, which don't occupy a specific genre the way punk does. It struck me as revolutionary and crazy to be playing something this simple, because my band had been doing this dense, proggy stuff." There's also a more immediate reason for the relative simplicity of Mind Science's material. "Well, we knew we had to justify the money and our time in the studio by coming up with 10 songs. So we said, `Oh, shit! Okay, E to A.' "

Mind Science are undertaking a limited tour that will bring them to town early next month (May 5 at the Middle East), but Larson isn't sure what they'll be playing, since the 36-minute CD covers their entire repertoire so far. "Then again, there's something to be said for short sets. I was feeling weird because the CD is only 36 minutes, but if you look at the old Van Halen albums, they're even shorter." Meanwhile Shudder To Think are getting to work on their second album for Epic. Originally on the high-integrity label Dischord, Shudder received a major push last year, making nice to the industry by playing such gigs as a Bacardi-sponsored party at the Middle East and a "back to college"-themed WFNX show on Lansdowne Street.

But Larson puts such things into perspective. "Shudder has not arrived at the mainstream level, nor should it. What we do doesn't translate into mass appeal. When we've done shows with the Foo Fighters and Smashing Pumpkins, the kids can't always hang with it -- because it's not for everyone, and that was one of the assumptions we made when we entered the major-label arena: `If we're successful, we'll eat our fucking hats.' We haven't had to do that yet."

Larson's praise for his fellow Scientists may sound as scripted as an MTV video award acceptance speech, but the adoration is certainly called for. With violinist Joan Wasser and drummer Kevin March from the Dambuilders and guitarist Mary Timony from Helium working in the Mind Science laboratory, it's obvious that Larson's research was rigorous. "We'd always kind of wanted to work together," admitted Larson, who has known Timony since high school. "So we just decided to book some time and write some songs really fast. We did it in about a week." "It" is Mind Science Of The Mind's recently-released eponynous debut LP, a collection of 10 tracks steaming with passion, aggression, and the same admirable quality that makes Shudder To Think so great: arrogance.

"I don't know exactly where that comes from," said Larson. "In talking with us, I hope you'll find we're nice people and we're not the least bit arrogant. We believe in what we do but we're not cocksuckers. I think that that's part of the stage persona Shudder To Think has had to develop kind of in self-defense, because we've done a lot of big tours, like with the Smashing Pumpkins and the Foo Fighters. We've gotten a lot of shit from the crowd because of the music that we do and because of Craig's [Wedren, from Shudder To Think] voice and because of the way we look. People either think that we're aggressive gay guys that are trying to mess with their sexuality or they think that we're making fun of the audience, which we're not doing and never have done."

Several tracks on Mind Science Of The Mind - including "Infidels (When Your Hips Came Loose)," "Do You Rule?" and "Science Of The Mind" - seem like natural extensions of the skewed-tempo mini rock operas Shudder To Think has come to be defined by, an interesting occurrence considering Larson has only played on Shudder To Think most recent LP, 1994's Pony Express Record.

"I think the course that Shudder To Think took into that sort of territory, with the exception of the record before that I didn't play on [1992's Get Your Goat], has happened since I've been in the band," said Larson. "But I do think I've certainly been influenced by Craig. "I like doing a lot of the Mind Science stuff that is straighter and I think that the natural direction that Shudder To Think is headed in now is towards a more organic, straight thing. I think the crazy time signature stuff is good and it's fun, but it can be really off-putting for people and it can also be less fun to play than just doing something that's melodically focused."

Some of the other notable offerings on Mind Science Of The Mind that have a mind science of their own include "Does It Rain In Your Womb?," a beautiful ballad made up of a single acoustic guitar and Larson's seductive voice, and "Oceans Don't Need Us," a song that sounds like it should be played during a slow dance at the Devil's birthday party.

Because all of the songs were written by Larson (he got some help on "Science Of The Mind"), the other band member's influences aren't as readily apparent. Larson insists that he didn't play dictator during the recording of Mind Science Of The Mind (produced by Ted Niceley), though it's obvious that his attitude propels the project.

"I take it really seriously and I believe in the music that I'm doing, but at the same time I know that the whole rock thing is kind of silly," said Larson. "I take it with a grain of salt, and it's slightly tongue-in-cheek, but it's by no means a parody. That's a quality that I've always dug about music I've listened to as long as I've been listening to music, like David Bowie and T-Rex and some of the more glam-oriented stuff where it's a little bit theatrical, a little bit Broadway in a sense. I think that rock is for show. It should be good music but it should also be intriguing."