The thinking man's booty rock.

It's not easy being Hot Action Cop. The group was born through forced labor, when frontman Rob Werthner was invited by his management to flee New York City and try focusing on his career down in Nashville. It would've been a weird move for any guy in the center of the NYC scene. Werthner was at even more of a loss, moving to the only place where his funk-metal could be even more uncool.

"I was asked not to return to a few Open Mic Nights," recalls Werthner. "How's that for a wake-up call?" But things turned out okay for Hot Action Cop. Their self-titled debut was released earlier this year on the Lava label. The record has some painful moments, but guitarist Tim Flaherty really adds flash to what could've been some clichéd rock. There are also plenty of great pop sounds on the album, along with some surprisingly insightful and lyrical moments.

Still, nobody can blame discerning music fans for dismissing the band. The album cover looks like a rejected poster for Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, and that's just the start of some frat-rock posing. So, with Hot Action Cop's frontman on the phone from Columbus, Ohio, the big question is fairly obvious: Why must Rob hide his sensitivity behind pleas for male fans to send in naked pictures of their girlfriends?

"That's a good question," replies Werthner. "I guess because we're all a bunch of sex hounds and psycho idiots."

And then Werthner poses his own interesting question: "Where exactly did that come from, with us asking for naked pictures?"

Let this be a lesson to all of you aspiring musicians. Check the small print on your artwork. It's news to Werthner that naked pictures are requested on his CD traycard.

"God knows that didn't come from me," Werthner notes. "You know, there are all sorts of people enjoying fun and games when I'm not looking. The album cover and all that stuff wasn't really my idea. That was the label's influence. Maybe it gives people the impression they're looking for, but there's more to the band than getting some kid to put a picture of a hot girl's ass on the wall. That's not always the best way to sell records."

The Lava label has learned that lesson, too. Hot Action Cop is selling pretty well overseas, particularly in Japan and Australia. "It's selling everywhere except in this country," notes Werthner. In response, the band's label has maintained an irreverent spirit. One press release even compiled all of the album's worst reviews. ("Spin this one down the toilet," says some critic in Ohio? fortunately, not Columbus.)

This all leaves Werthner looking fairly misunderstood. There's actually a sense of regret running through the songs on Hot Action Cop. Werthner is certainly up front about the ordeals of wild partying: "I wrote those songs at a time where I was trying things that aren't really for me. I was in situations that I wasn't comfortable with, like dating a lot of girls at the same time. A girl talked me into that, becoming a swinger in the marketplace, but you meet so many unbalanced people."

Fred Durst might express similar feelings, but they would be couched in terms of "crazy bitches." This hasn't kept Hot Action Cop from getting plenty of Limp Bizkit comparisons. "I don't mind being compared to the Red Hot Chili Peppers," Werthner volunteers. "I just want to write crazy music that doesn't sound like another cross between Nirvana and the Deftones. People can see us in a different light live. I'm not just another idiot jumping around like a moron."

In a rare smart career move, Hot Action Cop has even been working the club circuit and avoiding faceless summer package tours. "This band doesn't need to be on the Warped Tour," Werthner says. "I'd rather be playing for five people and letting them tell their friends about us."

And the band needs that word of mouth, since the MTV exposure didn't really work out. Once again, it was too much sexiness too soon for the "Fever for the Flava" video. "We thought our video was really tame," says Werthner. "Those hip hop videos are all about partying and sex. Ours didn't have much to do with partying. Maybe a little about sex?and most of the sexual ideas came from the marketing people. Then MTV started editing out the words to the songs. They edited out enough lyrics that you couldn't tell what the song was about."

But things could still look up for Hot Action Cop. "Fever for the Flava" gets another shot in the soundtrack to American Wedding, and that's them playing over the closing credits to this summer's big-screen version of S.W.A.T.. The marketing machine may save the band yet.

"Hopefully, the song from S.W.A.T. will get more airplay," Werthner says. "You can come up with enough marketing angles to drive anybody crazy if you analyze things enough. In a lot of ways, we're a hit in the head with a frying pan. Our record pushes buttons. People love it or hate it."

For the record, Rob isn't just striking a repentant pose in the wake of bad album sales. Consider several months ago, when Hot Action Cop played their record-release party at Don Hill's, and a certain writer asked them to come along to a dominatrix's birthday party.

Okay, so lots of people wouldn't want to hang out with this certain writer. Many would still come along just to hang out with the dominatrix. But not the men of Hot Action Cop, who were enjoying their time with Rob's old friends from the neighborhood.

"Sorry about that," says Werthner, "but I guess that's not really surprising. We don't go to strip bars, either. We'd rather hang out with the audience after a show."

There's a pause, and Werthner is once again compelled to state his band's deep, dark secret: "I tell you, we're just not that sex-crazed."