E-Mail This Article to a Friend Twisted spitsters Saliva settle a few scores BY SEAN RICHARDSON

Rock-stardom has always been one of Saliva frontman Josey Scott’s favorite topics: the Memphis band’s first two major-label CDs opened with songs titled "Superstar" and "Superstar II," respectively. Their third album, Survival of the Sickest (Island), abandons that trend, though the opening "Rock & Roll Revolution" doesn’t stray too far from the theme — in what seems to be a dig against modern emo punk, Scott sings, "You’ll never save the world if all you do is whine." A little more of a departure is the disc’s hit title track, an arena-size sing-along that borrows its guitars from AC/DC and its vocals from Kiss: "Right now, your face is in the crowd/I’m shouting out loud/The one you counted out of the game." Picture a red-state Buckcherry, or a more macho Darkness.

"As kids, we always dreamed about doing this," Saliva rhythm-guitarist Chris D’Abaldo explains. The title track, he continues, "is our way of stopping and smelling the roses. We’re proud to be what we are, we’re not dickheads to anybody, we love our fans. We always take time for them, and that’s what really matters. We’d like to see them do the same thing if this is their dream too. We’re happy to have stuck it out."

Along with Shinedown and Tesla, Saliva are headlining this year’s Locobazooka! festival on September 26 at the Fitchburg Municipal Airport. But even with a pair of gold albums under their belts, the band are serious when they sing about survival: they understand that succeeding in the music biz is a constant battle. On the raging "F*** All Y’All," Scott takes his frustrations out on former manager Bryan Coleman (whom he also called out in a recent MTV News interview) with a coy reference to two of Coleman’s clients. "Here’s to all the fucking money you made," he sneers, "so take your nickel back and default the rest of your take."

That’s not the only beef on the album. On "Two Steps Back," Scott disavows war even as he takes a shot at the Dixie Chicks for their anti-Bush comments. "He’s just letting them know that people are listening no matter where you are," D’Abaldo says. "We love our country, we love the people who fight for our country. He didn’t think it was fair for someone to say something like that. But then again, God bless freedom of speech. Dixie Chicks got to say what they said, Josey got to say what he said, and everybody’s happy."

As much as Saliva like to party and start static, they also have a sensitive side. "No Hard Feelings" and "No Regrets" are two different versions of the same song, one a heaving rap-rock meltdown, the other a brooding, electro-tinged ballad. "Both songs are very sentimental to our drummer, Paul Crosby," D’Abaldo points out. "They’re about losing his dad at a very young age and putting it to sleep. Josey worked closely with him to really bring that out. It’s not very often that a drummer gets to write two great songs like that."

Next month, at a Halloween-weekend race in Las Vegas, National Hot Rod Association driver Clay Millican will unveil his Saliva dragster, with a wicked paint job based on the skull-themed Survival cover art. A fan of the band, Millican grew up in the same Tennessee backwoods as D’Abaldo. "We knew what we wanted to do early on, because when I was living out there, all there was to do was fight, have sex, rock, get drunk, and build muscle cars. So I know the boy can drive."

Saliva perform at Locobazooka! on September 26 at the Fitchburg Municipal Airport, 567 Crawford Street in Fitchburg. The line-up also includes Tesla, Shinedown, Damageplan, Shadows Fall, Josh Todd, Kittie, Monster Magnet, Skindred, Candiria, and Dropbox. Tickets are $40; call (978) 345-9580, or visit www.locobazooka.com