Mmm Mmm Good : The Soup Dragons mix good licks and seductive vocals in a memorable psychedelic pop stew.

Soup. Jimmy Stewart likes it. Campbell’s made zillions off it. Andersen’s cornered the split-pea market possibly because people have to eat somewhere in Buellton.

The Soup Dragons are a quartet of soup fans who want to sell you records and make you dance.

They’re 14 digits away by finger--all the way in Glasgow, Scotland.

And they will be headlining the venerable Ventura Theatre on Friday night.

Opening will be Mercury labelmates the Catherine Wheel, plus local rockers Pinching Judy.

The Soup Dragons are touring in a thinly veiled effort to sell an unsuspecting American public as many copies of the band’s latest and greatest collection of pop rock should-be classics, “Hotwired.”

Most bands wouldn’t know a melodic hook if they went fishing with the Beatles, but the Soup dudes know what a song should sound like. The first single off the album, “Divine Thing,” is cruising up the college charts.

Sean Dickson has a seductive voice that seems to be half whisper, half smoke and, all in all, sufficient to drive female fans to distraction.

Guitarist Jim McCulloch, who has more good licks than a first-grade field trip to a sucker factory, harmonizes perfectly with Dickson.

Sushil Dade plucks the bass, and Paul Quinn hits the drums. Together, they form a swirling psychedelic pop stew with memorable songs that are tough on immobile feet.

The Soup Dragons have been around since 1985, but they first gained some serious attention in 1990 with their “Lovegod” album. The “I’m Free” single, with guest backup vocals by former Black Uhuru frontman Junior Reid, reached No. 1 on the alternative charts twice, and it has kept the band pretty much on the road and out of Glasgow ever since.

“There are a lot of good up-and-coming Scottish bands in the Glasgow area, such as Teenage Fanclub and Captain America,” guitarist McCulloch said in a recent phone interview. “Basically, every city has its own scene, but we’re more compatible and less cynical here. No one takes themselves too seriously. We just sort of got together. We were all hanging out in the same record shops, the same clubs, just checking each other out. Bands in London seem to have a sense of self-importance that they don’t necessarily merit.”

There have been several odd couples as far as booking rock tours goes--Prince and the Stones was adventurous if not successful; the Surf Punks and Journey was downright weird. Anyway, INXS and Soup Dragons was an inspired billing a few years back.

“That tour turned out to be very good for us,” McCulloch said. “We had the opportunity to play before a lot of people that wouldn’t have ordinarily heard of the Soup Dragons. INXS has some great pop singles, plus they’re great blokes.”

Headliners this time, the Soup Dragons are now on a so-called club tour. Translation: No gigs at the Forum.

“After being away from home for about three months, it begins to be like being away at sea,” McCulloch said. “But you can pay your rent, and pay your bills and make great music and, basically, do what you enjoy.”

And the press, never at a loss when it comes to adjectives, seems to like the Soup Dragons, using words that look good on anyone’s resume such as “total spontaneous rock ‘n’ roll combustion . . . brash and bracing . . . a great fire-breathing rock monster. . . .” It’s great to have friends and all, but McCulloch and his mates aren’t getting too excited about it.

“One week, you know, you’re the best in the world, the next week, you’re the worst band in the world,” McCulloch said. “In the U. K., the press is very cynical and we don’t put too much stock in what they say. We’re doing it ourselves.”

And what a weird name for a band--reptilian puree, yuck!

“We got our name from a television program from the early 1970s,” videophile McCulloch said. “The Soup Dragon was a character on the show, which wasn’t animated but more of a puppet show, sort of like the Muppets.”

WAY TO GO: Congratulations to local Ventura alternative guitar rockers Ariel. They recently won two thousand bucks and five hours of studio time after winning a five-week epic battle of the bands at the Prime Directive in Santa Barbara. There were more than 25 bands in the contest, and Ariel was the only band not from Santa Barbara. So if Santa Barbara is purportedly the next Seattle, what does that make Ventura? Still pretty foggy but with a lot of good bands?