By MICHAEL KRUGMAN

It's hard to believe it was only three years ago that silverchair first made waves with frogstomp (Epic), their megasuccessful collection of bracing alt-rock. Though the record was a huge hit, a lot of critics branded the Australian-based trio as Nirvana wannabes. Even Courtney Love noted that lead singer Daniel Johns was a Kurt Cobain sound- and look-alike. These were comparisons that didn't exactly sit well with silverchair. "When you're, like, 14 or 15, you kind of care what people think," says drummer Ben Gillies. "Because grunge was the cool thing at the time, that's what everyone compared our music to."

Today, at 17, the guys in silverchair are defining their own sound with their new disc, Freak Show, proving that they are no longer content to be called the teenage Pearl Jam. "We didn't actually sit down and say we're gonna write an album that sounds reall different or anything," explains Ben, who co-wrote the bulk of the songs with best friend Daniel. "But when you hear one of the new songs, I think you can finally say, 'That's silverchair.'"

Freak Show represents a major growth spurt for the trio. Along with bassist Chris Joannou, Ben and Daniel came up with the idea of a record inspired by their time on the road.

"The name Freak Show is actually referring to three things," Ben explains. "The 'show' bit is about being a band, traveling around, city to city, setting up, doing shows, packing up. The 'freak' part is about two things: all the freaks in the music industry, and how celebrities are treated differently from everybody else." You mean, like freaks? "Most people are really cool," Ben says. "But sometimes it's like, 'C'mon, we're not going to bite your head off or anything. We're just normal people.'"

OK, so maybe "normal" is a slight understatement. Unlike 99.9 percent of all the other 17-year-olds in the universe, the lads from Down Under will embark on a world tour this month in the United States. Along for the ride will be their parents and a tutor who will help them finish high school.

With graduation, new driver's licenses and a mature new record, it looks like the guys in silverchair are finally ready to grow up. Or are they?

"Actually," says Ben, "we'll still be a teen band until we're 20."