Back in sight: Play

Ten years ago, Third Eye Blind was the best thing to happen since Jared Leto. Try finding late- '90s lyrics that balanced not-too-sappy (Savage Garden) and not-too-scary (Smashing Pumpkins) phrases with just enough sexual innuendo to depict your true and plagiarized feelings for the guy in math class, all set to oh-so-clever "doot-doot-do" harmonies.

But after a wildly successful self-titled CD in 1997 that spawned three Top 10 singles and made Third Eye Blind an ever-present pop force in movies and on TV and radio, the band drifted off the airwaves.

In 2008, unlike Leto, the band is suddenly partying like it's 1999. With a busy tour schedule, an upcoming album release and rising popularity on college campuses, Third Eye Blind has regained its standing on the pop-cult scene -- take that, Charlize Theron. (The starlet dated frontman Stephen Jenkins at the height of the band's popularity.)

"It feels like there's been a resurgence over the last few years," drummer Brad Hargreaves said while preparing for a gig in Laramie, Wyo., with his other band, Year Long Disaster. "Which has been a nice surprise."

Hargreaves suspects Third Eye Blind's popularity spike is directly connected to its gigs.

"Over the last five years we've transformed ourselves from a radio band to a touring live band," said Hargreaves, 33. "I think we've developed a compelling live show, and it's something people keep wanting to see. We're pretty lucky about that."

The band is also hoping for luck as it begins recording a new album ("Ursa Major") immediately following this week's two-show Alaska tour. It will distribute the record without label backing.

"We're in a position where we can take control of how we put out a record," Har-greaves said. "We're doing it ourselves."

Saturday, Third Eye Blind performs for Anchorage to celebrate the summer solstice at the Moose's Tooth.

"No one in the band has ever been up there," Hargreaves said. "We had the opportunity to go, and we jumped at the chance."

Part of the enthusiasm, Hargreaves joked, is because "we saw 'Into the Wild.'?" The obvious Alaska attraction, though, is that he has connections.

"My girlfriend's relatives live up there," he said. "We have plans to go camping on the beach or bike up to a glacier or something. I just show up when I'm told."

• Play reporter Jessica Bowman can be reached at adn.com/contact/jbowman or call 257-4466.

Just the facts

Albums: Third Eye Blind (1997), Blue (1999), Out of the Vein (2003), A Collection (2006)

Songs you've heard: "Semi-Charmed Life," "Jumper," "Losing a Whole Year," "Graduate," "How's It Going to Be," "Never Let You Go," "Deep Inside of You"

Current band members: Stephen Jenkins (vocals, guitar), Brad Hargreaves (drums, percussion), Tony Fredianelli (guitar, vocals) and Leo Kremer (bass guitar, vocals) Third Eye tidbits

• The band's self-titled debut album sold more than 6 million copies.

• Frontman Stephen Jenkins was on People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" list in 1999.

• The band name does not refer to a Ouija board, drinking or a sex organ. Drummer Brad Hargreaves said it refers, ironically, to the metaphysical idea of the mind's eye, or the idea of "music in a blind time."

• Third Eye Blind songs have been featured in movies including "Varsity Blues," "A Knight's Tale," "Can't Hardly Wait," "Me, Myself and Irene" and "American Pie."

• The band has been without a major label since 2004, when Elektra Records merged with Atlantic and purged 80 bands from the label.

• Hear unreleased recordings from the band on its MySpace page (www.myspace.com/thirdeyeblind)

Third Eye Blind

When: 6 p.m. Saturday

Where: Moose's Tooth (3300 Old Seward Highway)

How much: $35, 21-and-up, available at www.beartooth theatre.net

Web: www.3eb.com, www. myspace.com/thirdeyeblind

•Third Eye Blind also performs at 6 p.m. today at The Blue Loon, Fairbanks. $35, www.theblueloon.com