Rick Reardon said his band took heavy metal and alternative rock and squashed them together into one sound. The result: Squash.

"We're that crossover breed," Reardon said. "Heavy alternative, I guess people would call it."

Better known bands with a similar sound would include Soundgarden, Helmet, Quicksand and Alice in Chains, he said -- but Squash isn't hitching a ride on anyone's back.

Squash plays all original tunes, he said, and four band members share in the writing.

"No one writes an entire song by themselves, brings it in and says 'This is what you need to do'," Reardon said. "It's all a collaborative effort."

Reardon, the vocalist, writes most of the lyrics. His inspiration comes from events in his life and from "stuff I see in the outside world." He doesn't like to talk about his lyrics, though, because he doesn't want to influence anyone's interpretation of his work.

"I try not to tell anyone what the lyrics are about because I would like them to get out of them what I get out of them on a personal level," he said.

"We try not to preach," he added. "If you're on a platform in this type of performance art, I don't think you should preach to people about your political views or anything. They should get out of it what they want to get out of it."

Some of the songs are topical, touching on current issues like city violence and "kids shooting kids on the streets," he said.

"There's not a lot about government issues. We try to keep it vague, we don't name names. ... And there are no love songs. I stay away from that because everyone writes about that."

Squash is a high-energy band, Reardon said, and it likes to use that energy on-stage.

"We would hope that when people leave our concerts, they say 'Wow. I understood where they were coming from. I could feel their energy.' We want to get people involved with what we're doing."

The band released a demo album in 1993, which has already sold out its initial 1,000 copies. Reardon said members are back in the studio preparing a 7-inch vinyl release with three new songs for January.