A not-so-funny thing happened to the Australian band Gerling on the way to Japan last fall. Having presented a buzz-worthy performance at last summer's Fuji Rock Festival, the trio was completely psyched for a Japan tour set for November. Then, America was attacked. But while a lot of bands subsequently canceled overseas shows because of a newfound (or, more precisely, intensified) fear of air travel, Gerling was forced to cancel theirs for entirely different reasons.

The name of their second album, the one they were coming to support, was "When Young Terrorists Chase the Sun," a title that their Japanese record company, Sony, understandably felt would be difficult to promote. "It was pretty crazy what happened with the timing of the album," says the group via speakerphone from their studio in a "junkie-filled" suburb of Sydney. "We finished the album in January 2001 and the artwork in February. We weren't in on that whole Afghanistan terrorist tip at all. The title was just a metaphor, kind of a challenge to mainstream music."

For the sake of convenience, the group's three members -- Australians Paul "Presser" Towner and Darren Cross, and Canadian Burke Reid -- have agreed to converse as a single entity, which goes nicely with a public stance summed by the generalizing purpose of their moniker. "It's supposed to be nondescript. If we called ourselves, say, Angry Pack of Wolves, you'd think we were a nu metal band. We wanted it so you couldn't peg us just by our name."