A Garden of Sound : On Seattle’s alternative rock scene, a psychedelic-grunge- punk-metal-etc. group is making its music.

“Whole lotta screamin’ goin’ on . . .”

--not Jerry Lee Lewis

Besides being the home of those Huskies, Seattle is also known for its burgeoning alternative rock scene.

Soundgarden is this week’s critical darling.

The lead singer does the in-your-face vocal thing.

The group’s sound is loud enough to make your garden grow instant feet and head for the hills.

The kids will probably buy a shirt when Soundgarden plays the Ventura Theatre tonight.

The band’s current bio instructs the reader to “Forget all the psychedelic-Zeppelin-grunge-punk-metal-thrash that’s been written about this band.” Well, forget the “forget” part and what you have left is a pretty apt description of Soundgarden.

Hey, nothing wrong with that; it’s a fair description of an increasingly popular form of alternative rock.

That means it doesn’t sound like Kenny G., Milli Vanilli or Bad English, which is great.

This also means Warren Zevon was right again--”It ain’t that pretty at all. . . .” Soundgarden is harsh and heavy, yet mildly melodious, much like Faith No More and Nirvana.

Soundgarden’s latest release, “Badmotorfinger,” is selling like crazy.

Not a metal band, not a Led Zep clone band, just a young band that plays loud and hard, ready and idling in the limo of rock stardom, waiting for the Big Time--that’s Soundgarden.

Opening for Guns N’ Roses hasn’t hurt their chances for success, either. (But not in Ventura.)

“Well, right now, we’re kind of disappointed because Axl (Rose) cut his hand, so they just canceled two big Detroit shows,” drummer Matt Cameron said recently.

“This is definitely the coveted opening slot for us. This tour will last until the end of February. Some people seem to think we’re this heavy metal band, and sometimes we’re kind of being promoted that way by our record company (A&M;). Our music does contain certain heavy metal elements, but there are other elements present as well.”

One of those elements is Angst -laden lyrics featuring a lot of off-the-wall religious symbolism, none of which anyone can decipher when the band plays.

“Our music has always been able to take the listener somewhere, on a journey,” Cameron said. “Some people just like to put on the headphones. Others like to stand up and knock stuff over. Some just want to bang their heads, rock out and get sweaty. We have this element that transports people somewhere else.”

While lead singer Chris Cornell is the resident hunk (he’s the one with no shirt) and main lyricist, Soundgarden is a functioning democracy.

Everybody writes music and lyrics.

“Rock ‘n’ roll democracy hardly ever works, but it works in our band because no one dictates,” Cameron said.

So far, so good.

Soundgarden was formed in Seattle in 1984 and immediately gained a dedicated local following.

They released a number of records on independent labels, including Sub Pop in Seattle and SST in Los Angeles.

Their latest album has just entered Billboard’s Top 100, and their video for “Outshined” can be seen on MTV.

“There’s always been good bands in Seattle--us, Nirvana, Alice In Chains,” Cameron said.

“The scene’s been really good since 1988, when some of these bands finally were recognized. We just sort of fell into all this. It just kind of came to us. We’re not necessarily a young band anymore. We’re into it for the music. It’s much better than a day job.”

And considering Seattle residents’ attitude toward California emigrants, it is a good thing Cameron isn’t in need of a day job.

“I’m from San Diego originally,” he said. “I went to Washington to visit, and I liked it so much I moved up there in 1981. I took my drums and a suitcase and moved. A lot of people from California moved up here, bought up all the real estate, then the prices shot up. I changed the plates on my car because people would yell at you.”