Some people say Better Than Ezra are better off dead.

But those folks probably haven't heard the trio's latest release, How Does Your Garden Grow.

Released Aug. 25, this album is about more than just music. It also sends a clear message that Better Than Ezra refuse to be a molded product of mass society.

Forgoing the folk-acoustic model of their earlier releases, this album showcases BTE's fantasy side - flirtation with electric pop, experimental sound and thickly layered overdubbing.

So now that their round peg's grown square, BTE is back on the road. The band roll into Tumbleweeds Arena, in Stillwater - how could they? - tonight. Tickets are $14 at the door and you'll probably want to get there before 10 p.m. for good seats.

BTE drummer, Travis McNabb, who replaced Cary Bonnecaze right before the band's second album, explained Garden's shift in sound as an inevitable musical evolution.

"We just wanted to make a record that really represented the things we were listening to and things we were in to, instead of feeling like we were stuck in how people wanted us to sound," he said.

That's a pretty bold statement, considering Deluxe, the album that propelled the group to instant MTV fame, went platinum.

The band's follow-up release, Friction, baby, sold a respectable 500,000 copies.

So why break the mold? Why veer from the tried and true success of past endeavors? Because BTE believes music should be honest.

"With a lot of musicians, you listen to their CD collection and it doesn't even sound the slightest bit like (the music they play)," McNabb said. "I wanted to make a record that sounded like something I wanted to listen to - something I wanted to go out and buy. So that's what we did, rather than just listening to the radio and saying, that's how we have to sound."

The step off the cliff is a big one, and McNabb said the band members are fully aware of the risk.

"There is a certain pressure there that exists from yourself and from people you do business with … but we really purposefully tried to avoid those kinds of concerns because I've seen people tortured by it," he said. "All we can do is make a record and make sure we're happy with it."

However que sera, sera McNabb's attitude may seem, his words mask a sense of bravado rarely found in the I-just-want-to-be-famous music industry.

"You can't let (the pressure to create a follow-up) eat at you too much or it really affects your work. Whatever's going to happen, is going to happen and all you do is make a record that you're happy about."

Better Than Ezra's plans include supporting How Does Your Garden Grow through the end of the year and then heading to Europe for a few months.

That pretty much leaves all questions answered except one - what about the name?

Though the band declines to repeat the story saying it's a long and uneventful tale, there is a clue found on a fan's Web page. It's taken from Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast: "Anything was better than Ezra learning to play the bassoon."