Turn your radio to 98.9 and you'll hear a lot of hard rock bands singing about their ladies, whether they are addicted to them, love their girl's assets or are simply celebrating the crazy ones.

Chicago hard-rock trio Chevelle has shared a lot of radio time with those bands since unleashing hits like "The Red" and "Send the Pain Below" in 2002 and 2003. And lead singer/guitarist Pete Loeffler has grown tired of being caught up in the Nickelbacks, Buckcherrys and Saving Abels of the world, the bands who release generic crossover hits that can be sandwiched between Britney Spears and Coldplay on Top 40 countdowns.

"I think if you go and read those lyrics of the cookie-cutter hard-rock bands out there, you're going to see that they're pretty bad. They're talking about a girl and there's a lot of 'I' and 'me,'" Loeffler says. "There's nothing to really search for and grab a hold of and dig in to."

After finishing the 2007 album "Vena Sera" and subsequent tours, Chevelle set out to make a record that would go against the current fads of mainstream hard rock. Pete, his brother Sam Loeffler (drums) and half-brother Dean Bernardini (bass) avoided "overproduction" and sought an organic sound that would stay true to the band's live performances.

"We tried to go backwards a little and not make a very polished record," Loeffler says. "A lot of the rock bands you hear on the radio are really f------ perfect. And you go to see them and they don't sound like that. We do not want to do that."

So Loeffler used no vocal tuning when recording Chevelle's fifth and newest studio album, "Sci-Fi Crimes." He simply "sang it until he liked it."

Actually, Chevelle tried quite a few new tricks on the album, which was released on Aug. 31. The group incorporated more double bass drums, and Loeffler even belted out a guitar solo in "Fell Into Your Shoes," which he admits is a scarcity for Chevelle.

"(Guitar solos) are rare for us, but I'm trying to steer a little further away from pure metal and heavy and do a little more of the melodic part of Chevelle," Loeffler says.

Another thing Chevelle hadn't tried in years was an acoustic song, but "Highland's Apparition," might be one of the most memorable songs from "Sci-Fi Crimes." Loeffler's cryptic lyrics speak of facing something unknown - something without a face - and being neither afraid nor nervous, as the song states.

While the song fits with the supernatural theme of the record, Loeffler says "Highland's Apparition" is inspired by a haunted house in which he lived for four years. Loeffler says mold would appear and disappear in corners of the house, and before he and his roommates moved out, they found out that the man who built the house and his cat were buried in the backyard. But, oh, there was more.

"There was one room in the house where everyone who slept in it thought they had been touched at some point in the night. Yeah, it was weird," Loeffler laughs. "It's straight out of a horror movie."

Another song to which Loeffler feels a haunting connection is "Sleep Apnea." The hard-hitting album opener features the lyrics: "I gasp and hold my breath, these needs have chains so deep/To face you, oh, let's say I've been awake for years." The described experience is something Loeffler has gone through on many different nights.

"Lately, I've been like choking in my sleep and I don't know why," Loeffler says. "Like the other night, I actually woke up gasping for air. It scared the absolute s--- out of me."

Loeffler says that "Sleep Apnea" has opened every Chevelle concert on the current tour, which will make a stop at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City on Nov. 11. Chevelle also will play a few new favorites such as "Jars" and "Shameful Metaphors" along with the group's singles from previous albums.

The concert starts at 8 p.m. with opening acts Halestorm and After Midnight Project. For more information, call (816) 753-8665 or visit www.uptowntheater.com.