When Everclear mastermind Art Alexakis set out to record the 13-song So Much for the Afterglow (Oct. 7), the follow-up to his group's million-plus selling breakthrough Sparkle and Fade, the idea was to make an album that would challenge as much as comfort fans.

"I don't think this sounds like the last record at all, and that's exactly what we wanted," singer/guitarist/songwriter/producer Alexakis said, calling from his Portland home Thursday afternoon.

"I just don't want to hear the same band do the same thing twice," he added. "And even though these songs sound different, I think it still sounds like Everclear."

Alexakis and his bandmates (Craig Montoya, bass, and Greg Eklund, drums) expanded the sound by experimenting with tape loops, organ (played by the Wallflowers' Rami Jaffee on a few tracks), strings (on a pair of songs), a three-piece horn section on "One Hit Wonder" and a smattering of banjo, mandolin, toy piano, keyboards and slide guitar. "We wanted to make a pop record," Alexakis said. "And the fact is, Sparkle and Fade was a rock record with pop influences; this time we tried to make a pop record with rock influences."

The result is an album that kicks hard and heavy from the first beat of the lead-off title track. The song opens with a Beach Boys-like chorus of voices, then dives into a trademark Everclear rave-up with a hard but melodic punk edge. As in the past, Alexakis mixes confessional and metaphorical story-telling to relate the tale of a character named Susan, in a song which seems to be about a romance as well as his relationship to his audience. "I guess the honeymoon is over," he sings. "So much for the afterglow."

Though there's still no mistaking Alexakis' deeply-personal lyrics and the band's "just plain rock" sound, as he referred to it, there are a number of unexpected surprises on the album, such as the funky, distorted instrumental "El Distorto De Melodica," a loud, cacophonous blast of overamped guitar and caterwauling vocals. Another surprise is the anti-heroin-chic punk tune "Amphetamine," which puts to music a speedy high that crashes with a plaintive violin and cello outro from cellist Gerri Sutyak and The Wild Colonials' Paul Cantelon. Alexakis also dug up an old tune from his pre-Everclear band, Colorfinger, called "Why I Don't Believe in God," that's a straight-up country tune on which he plays banjo, steel guitar and mandolin. Alexakis rerecorded this song about his mother's mental illness and its faith-questioning effect on him, he said, because it "fit the naked intensity of the album."

The album also makes a number of references to the fall-out Alexakis experienced following the group's success. From a story about the buying and selling of flesh in the first single, "Everything to Everyone," to the clever jabs at detractors in "One Hit Wonder" ("The one hit wonder/ He likes the big time/ He says he wants to live the kind of life/ That will make the folks back home/ All bitch and whine") So Much for the Afterglow isn't so much a "fuck-you" record as a "yeah, and now what?" retort. "You'd think after success a person wouldn't be so pissed off anymore," Alexakis said, laughing. "But it's like a Pandora's box; the further you get into it, the more shit comes out."

But finding the right sound to convey what he wanted to say wasn't easy, he added. After Everclear started recording last November, they spent over a month working on the 19 tracks that would feed into the final product. Once he came back to work on the songs again in January, Alexakis said something didn't feel right. "After taking December off, I listened to them again, and they sounded OK, but not great," he explained. "I wanted great. Our A&R guy said he thought we could do better and I agreed."

So the band went back and recorded five more songs, including what became the title track, the song that would set the tone for the rest of the record. "I hope our fans enjoy it," Alexakis said, "but at the least I think it will make a lot of people look at us in a different light, whether they end up liking it or not."

The full track listing for So Much for the Afterglow is: "So Much for the Afterglow," "Everything to Everyone," "Ataraxia (Media Intro)," "Normal Like You," "I Will Buy You A New Life," "Father of Mine," "One Hit Wonder," "El Distorto De Melodica," "Amphetamine," "White Men In Black Suits," "Sunflowers," "Why I Don't Believe in God" and "Like a California King."