Third Eye Blind sometimes refers to themselves as “;3eb,”; apparently the better to Tweet themselves.

The band name is deliberately mysterious—is it the third eye that is blind? Or the third eye-blinding?—so mysterious that the band itself is running a comment contest on their Web site to explain it. Most of the comments so far refer to the band's stellar wonderfulness and/or drug use.

That sounds about right.

What do we know about Third Eye Blind? Precious little that isn't filtered through PR flacks. Here's how the current lineup describes themselves.

Singer Stephen Jenkins “;lives in San Francisco and has a dog named The Boo. He enjoys composting, moving walkways, and has an overwhelming and tragic crush on Air America host Rachel Maddow.”;

Drummer Brad Hargreaves “;lives in the Hollywood Hills, enjoys learning new things, and has a powerful Dachshund named Shelby. They are both secretly slipping off the world.”;

Tony Fredianelli has “;moved recently from Las Vegas to a cliff in San Diego, where he injures himself repeatedly learning to surf and rollerblade, like everyone else in San Diego. He is addicted to fruit juice, and believes most every conspiracy theory has gotta have a little something to it.”;

Awww, so cute. So Tiger Beat. And pretty much useless. So read between the lines: They don't even live in the same city. What happened to the Monkees-like existence of power-pop “;rock”; bands all under one, wacky roof? Talk about disillusionment.

HERE'S SOME juicier kibble:

» Jenkins had a long-term relationship with actress Charlize Theron. It fizzled. Maybe he spent too much time mooning after Rachel Maddow, whom—I have to needlessly point out—isn't interested in boys. Not even power-pop metroboys.

» Former bass player Arion Salazar has apparently drifted away into his own little world. He wasn't reliable at gigs. Although 3eb has an “;open door policy”; on Salazar's status, Inviolet Row's Abe Millet has been filling in.

» Fredianelli was an original member of the band, but was “;forced to quit”; because commuting from Las Vegas to San Francisco for band practice every day was a hassle. (Dudes, that's why the Monkees had a house together. What do you think a band is, some sort of corporate business venture?) Fredianelli was replaced with guitarist Kevin Cadogan, who was himself pink-slipped in a management shuffle, and the unhappy Cadogan sued.

» Their albums include “;Third Eye Blind”; in 1997, “;Blue”; in 1999, “;Out Of The Vein”; in 2003 and the digital EP “;Red Star”; in 2008. The new record “;Ursa Major”; is due out in August, with “;Ursa Minor”; to follow next year.

» After some spectacular demos, 3eb was at the center of a bidding war among labels. They went with Electra, as the label promised artistic freedom. But Electra was “;absorbed”; by Atlantic Records in 2003 and 3eb was shuffled off to the Warner label, who cut them—along with 80 other acts—in 2004. They're now recording for Sony.