Scruffy Philadelphia rockers CKY had just finished a handful of dates on Tony Hawk’s "Boom Boom Huck Jam" tour and were driving from Detroit to San Diego to start a short club tour when they got the call: Axl Rose wanted them. The eccentric rock legend had chosen them to be the opening band on last fall’s Guns N’ Roses comeback tour. It was an opportunity anyone in rock would kill for — but from the false start in Vancouver to the unhappy ending in Philadelphia, the tour didn’t exactly go as planned.

"To me, a riot on the first date, a riot on the last date — the symmetry is perfect," jokes CKY bassist Vern Zaborowski. "When we got to Vancouver, it was hysterical because we didn’t even get to go on. It was 20 minutes before we were about to go on: our shit was set up, soundcheck, we were good. And then nobody was in the place. We were like, ‘This is a little strange.’ And then we heard the news, went to the windows, and all the windows in the arena were smashed." (To recap: Axl didn’t show, the promoters cancelled the gig, and fans rioted — all before the doors opened.)

Opening-night riots aside, CKY (whose line-up is rounded out by frontman Deron Miller, guitarist Chad Ginsburg, and drummer Jess Margera) had a good time on the truncated one-month trek. They even ended up getting friendly with Axl. "He was actually really cool," Zaborowski enthuses. "He picked us out of like 10 bands. We hung out with him on Thanksgiving at a strip club. He loved Chad. Chad turned on the charm or something, because Axl couldn’t get enough of him."

CKY were right where they wanted to be when the tour was cancelled: back home in Philadelphia, where after finishing their opening set they found out that Axl wouldn’t be performing that night. The band took the rest of the year off, but now they’re out on their biggest headlining tour to date in support of Infiltrate Destroy Rebuild (Island), the first album they’ve made with a major-label budget. The tour hits Axis next Thursday and Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel in Providence next Friday.

Originally the brainchild of Miller and Margera, CKY (short for "Camp Kill Yourself") self-released their first album, Volume 1 (it’s been reissued on Island), in ’99. Around the same time, their music started appearing on the CKY videos, a popular underground series masterminded by Jess’s brother Bam and featuring a combination of skateboarding tricks and juvenile pranks. When Bam landed a gig on the like-minded MTV series Jackass, the group went along for the ride. Their "96 Quite Bitter Beings" became a Jackass favorite, and the song’s video eventually made its way onto MTV. Before long, they had a big-money record deal.

Fans of Jackass/GNR–style idiocy will have a field day with Infiltrate Destroy Rebuild, a menacing stoner-rock album with plenty of melody to go with its firepower. The first single, "Flesh into Gear," could be the soundtrack to a monster truck rally gone psychedelic: Miller’s voice threatens to float away in a haze of smoke, and Ginsburg’s guitar pounds like a jackhammer. The song’s secret weapon is an icy Moog-synthesizer interlude, a clever pop gesture on an album that’s full of them.

Zaborowski, who hooked up with CKY right before Jackass took off, was drawn in by their adventurous spirit: he bonded with them over avant-rock luminaries Mr. Bungle and Ween, and his favorite part of the GNR tour was hanging out with hired-gun guitarist Buckethead. But as far as he’s concerned, pop is an equally important part of the CKY equation. "We all like pop songs — you know, Deron likes Kiss. Kiss have all kinds of hooks, and that’s what gets people. I love everything from Frank Zappa to Built To Spill. It keeps us fresh, because we don’t sound like every other band out there."

CKY’s love affair with the Moog is intensified by their soft spot for disco, and those two elements create a blissful synergy on Infiltrate Destroy Rebuild’s pop highlight, "Plastic Plan." The lush vocal harmonies of Miller and Ginsburg brighten up the bottom-heavy "Sink into the Underground"; the snarling "Attached at the Hip" sounds like their twisted idea of a love song. The biggest departure is "Close Yet Far," a delicate ballad with somber acoustic guitar and Moog accents. "Don’t have a soul on my side/Still ridiculed despite how hard that I have tried," croons Miller, keeping it real for jackasses everywhere even at his most sensitive. On their first high-profile release, CKY don’t forget to cater to their built-in audience — but the scope of the album might end up surprising a few other rock fans too.

CKY perform at Axis in Boston next Thursday, March 13; call (617)262-2437. They perform at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel in Providence next Friday, March 14; call (401) 272-5876.