LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - With a new album that feeds on paranoia, pollution and personal struggles, British rock band Bush is proving that grunge rock is not quite dead yet.

Teen pop and rap-flavored rock may be the favorites of young record fans these days, but Bush hopes its third album, ``The Science of Things'' (Trauma), shows there is still a market for brooding lyrics and noisy guitars.

To be sure, Bush seems to have that market virtually to itself. Five years and 15 million album sales ago, when it released its debut offering, ``Sixteen Stone,'' Bush had to share the turf with Seattle bands such as Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and Nirvana, all of which have since broken up.

Survivors such as Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and Bush itself have had to contend with declining record sales. ``The Science of Things'' opened at No. 11 on the U.S. pop charts, while Bush's previous album of new material, ``Razorblade Suitcase'' (1996), opened at No. 1.

Of course, Bush is not a relic of the long-ago early '90s. Led by singer/guitarist Gavin Rossdale, a 32-year-old sex symbol, the group still managed to electrify the crowd when it played at Woodstock III this summer without the benefit of a new album in stores.

Legal Troubles

``The Science of Things'' was finished by then -- in fact it was finished in March -- but release was held up by a contract dispute with Bush's label, Los Angeles-based Trauma Records.

The band felt it deserved a better deal and made noises about going to a new label, prompting tiny Trauma to take legal action against its sole hit act. The parties then sat down and worked out a deal that seems to have made everyone happy.

``They gave us what they could,'' Rossdale said. ``Our deal wasn't massive by any means but it certainly worked that if we do good then we do good. We can't retire on what we got.''

In addition to Rossdale, Bush comprises lead guitarist Nigel Pulsford, bassist Dave Parsons and drummer Robin Goodridge. They formed in London in 1992, signed with Trauma a year later and released ``Sixteen Stone'' in 1994. The album went on to sell 9 million copies worldwide, fueled by five hit singles beginning with ``Everything Zen.''

``Razorblade Suitcase'' sold 5 million. An album of remixes, ''Deconstructed,'' was released in 1997.

Bush has supported its releases with frenetic touring of the United States, a feat that separates it from British bands such as Oasis and Blur that have made only tentative forays into the U.S. heartland and suffered commercially as a result.

The flip side is that Bush is barely known in its homeland, which does not bother Rossdale too much. ``What can I do? Jump up and down and, every interview I do, go, 'I'm great! I'm great! Please listen to me?' I do feel that time and longevity are the greatest answers to that. They're the only answer.''

Despite the band's success in the rest of the world, at least, the perception persists that Bush is Rossdale and three blokes, since he writes the songs and is the main spokesman.

``We're not a gang but we are a really good bunch of friends. It's a funny balance but I'm indebted to this band. Obviously we're all indebted to each other. But it's the sum of these parts that makes this band, as in any band,'' he said.

Rossdale As Picasso

Rossdale does not encourage his bandmates to write songs, partly because he is overloaded with his own tunes, but he does keep things reasonably equitable by sharing proceeds from his royalties checks.

``It's no good me sitting in a castle and them have a small apartment. The idea is that we have many records together, and I must say we're getting on better than ever,'' he said.

Speaking of castles, he retreated to a remote Irish mansion for four months to write the songs for ``The Science of Things.'' By his own account, he lived a perfectly indulgent lifestyle. Friends, including girlfriend Gwen Stefani of pop band No Doubt, came to visit but largely left him to his own devices.

``Normally you try and write songs when you're on the run and you're just winging it slightly. This was a case where I could really just indulge. I wanted to be Picasso and I wanted to be him living in a house and just painting all the time.''

The idyllic existence allowed Rossdale a chance to think, reflect and come up with a collection of bleak songs.

``The Disease of the Dancing Cats'' is about deforestation and pollution and mentions his favorite animals, orangutans. ''Jesus Online'' deals with feelings of inadequacy in the commercial age. ``Letting the Cables Sleep'' focuses on communication breakdowns.

He said the album title ``is really about the nature of the way things work and how we retrace our steps and notice this formulaic way in which we live. Those things appeal to me.''

It could also be genetic in his case: ``I'm naturally paranoid. I come from Russian-Jewish stock, so I have a complete sense of persecution at all times.''

It all sounds rather glum, and maybe that was the downfall of grunge: People could take only so much hand-wringing before wanting to hear some happy tunes.

Rossdale says he has a ``constant need'' to laugh and say funny things, but he has never sought to incorporate that into his music. To him, art is all about isolation and vanquishing demons; it is silly doing that with a big grin on your face.

``When I'm singing it's serious. It's not pious and it's not self-righteous and it's not judgmental,'' he said. ``I think that when you work and create stuff it should be serious.''