Glam-rock is back, at least according to Andy Harris of Chune. The singer/guitarist, who sports a bleached blonde do, believes that this time it’s short hair and make-up, not long hair.

“Alternative came about from glam anyway,” he said. “Rock ‘n’ roll is all about vintage clothing and old guitars — it’s not cool to have a new guitar anymore.”

Harris, who says he just wants to have a little fun and not be called a freak, relates their music to (believe it or not) baseball.

“We compare our style to sports a lot,” Harris said from his bar stool at the Safari Club in Des Moines, where the band played a gig Tuesday with Lollapalooza Indie stage-mates Lutefisk. “It has ups and downs like a game, but it’s more the dramatics and mellow moments that they have in common.”

Drummer Art Ulloa describes Chune as guitar karate rock, while the two agree they’re a travelin’ band. “We’re doin’ it for the Dead,” Ulloa joked.

The San Diego-based quartet actually formed in southern France, where lead guitarist Lance Martineau and bassist Mike Truffa ran into Harris. Ulloa, who grew up in the same neighborhood as the band but drummed for rival band Plastic Love, joined Chune for last summer’s South By Southwest Festival.

“It was a really good show,” Harris explained of Ulloa’s first gig. “The festival’s a bunch of bulls—t, but it was a good show.”

“South By Southwest is all about clothing companies and pool-side photo sessions,” Ulloa added, explaining the band’s dislike for commercialism in Indie music.

“The Indie label thing sucks,” Harris admitted. “It’s all about cash. Cargo’s a good label, though.”

Chune has released two discs on the Cargo label, the most recent being Big Hat, No Cattle. The E.P. features six (five-minute plus) tracks, including “Duel Rectums,” a tune the band released as a 7″ single.

“We had a bunch of songs down,” Ulloa explained. “But right around the time we recorded the album, I read this article about [the] Rolling Stones and how they had decided to be really picky in what they put on their last disc.”

“So we decided to be really picky,” Harris interrupted. “We just decided to copy everything the Stones do. No, the six songs just fit really well together.”

Though Harris disagrees, critics have labeled Chune’s emotionally compelling style “math rock” — a combination of sophisticated guitar interplay and angular arrangements. Chune has been described as lethargic hard-edged rock with extreme melancholy.

Chune’s style has stricken comparisons to Sonic Youth, Hum, a grunge Dinosaur Jr. and even the Smashing Pumpkins. Big Hat, No Settle left reviewers labeling the band as depressing.

“It’s life,” Harris said of Chune’s music. “If people find it depressing that’s cool, but it’s not to me. Depressing’s sort of a strong word, but people call the Cure depressing, and I love that band. So I guess it’s cool.”

According to Harris, Martineau does most of the guitar work while everyone else adds their own things. Ulloa added that they all contribute on lyrics, but Harris disagreed.

“What?” Harris questioned.

“Well, Andy writes most of them,” Ulloa said, correcting himself.

“I’ve only written every lyric ever recorded,” Harris explained proudly. “I write all the lyrics in the studio, where there’s pressure to get them done.”

Despite Ulloa’s claim that Harris had done stand-up poetry, the truth came out (a rarity in Chune interviews).

“No, never,” Harris said.

According to Martineau, the band once sent in a Cheap Trick press release with the Trick’s name erased and replaced with Chune. “There were a few papers that didn’t catch it and they printed it,” he said.

Martineau is also the band member who supposedly sold his house to finance the band, a fib Harris and Ulloa found hysterical.

“You got to have fun,” Harris added. “The media’s so liberal anyway.”

Cheap Trick, a special guest act on the Lollapalooza Main Stage, was the only band on the bill Chune called an influence.

According to Harris, Chune has played with other acts on the Indie Stage.

“They’re all our friends,” he said. “The Second Stage bands all suck if you want my opinion, except for Ben Folds Five and maybe Girls Against Boys. We don’t sound like Cheap Trick, but we like them a lot.”

Chune played on the Lollapalooza Second Stage last year in Chicago. This year the band is headlining the Indie Stage, taking stage around 5:45.

“Last year was cool ’cause we were in between Main Stage acts,” Harris said. “We choose to play last this year because of the heat. I’m a p—y when it comes to the heat, and I know the Midwestern sun in the summer.”

Rain or shine, Lollapalooza will go on. The tour stops in Des Moines Friday at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. Tickets are $37.50 and are available through Ticketmaster.