FANS JUST ASK FOR MGB.

Byline: Fred Shuster Music Writer

Fueled by a diverse array of influences ranging from painters to writers to musicians, outspoken Canadian singer-band leader Matthew Good doesn't just confine his rants to song.

He's been known to post diatribes on everything from music to violence in schools on his popular Web site (www.matthewgoodband.com). Then, there are tunes like ``A Boy and His Machine Gun,'' which Good says he wrote before school shootings hit the headlines.

``It's actually about being checked into a mental institution,'' he explained. ``But I'm glad it can be used as a starting point for discussion.''

Over the past three years, Good scored six Top 5 rock/alternative hits in the Great White North - including the chart-topping ``Hello Time Bomb,'' currently climbing the Modern Rock Tracks chart in the U.S.

The song can be found on ``Beautiful Midnight'' (Atlantic), the Vancouver-based quartet's third album and U.S. debut. Along with singer-guitarist Good, the group includes guitarist-keyboardist Dave Genn, bassist Rich Priske and drummer Ian Browne.

The Matthew Good Band isn't the first outfit to trek out of Canada with a bunch of hits in the homeland, but there are no guarantees the group will catch on elsewhere. Winnipeg's Crash Test Dummies, for example, cracked the U.S. Top 10 in 1994 but couldn't follow through, quickly dropping off the radar.

More recently, the north's Our Lady Peace made a mild splash at modern- rock radio but saw the attention quickly subside.

``OLP are just a studio invention,'' Good, 29, said with typical rancor. ``People saw through them real fast. They had this big push behind them but it didn't do any good.''

Good, though, enjoys some name recognition in the U.S. thanks to the MuchMusic TV channel, which has supported the group for two years. In fact, ``Beautiful Midnight'' received a record 11 nominations at the 2000 MuchMusic Video Awards, and snared Juno Awards (Canada's Grammys) for best group and best rock album.

``He writes hooky rock songs,'' said David Burrier, senior director of product development for Atlantic. ``You listen and see he has something to say, whether people agree or not. It's compelling music. One thing I debate with friends all the time is the question of whether songwriting is coming back into favor. Hopefully, Matthew will be riding the crest of that wave.''

With Los Angeles dates for spring currently being worked out, Good says he had no musical aspirations as a kid, initially striving to be a history professor before cutting an independently produced album in the mid-'90s.

``We put 'MGB' on the record, but, on the radio, they said, 'Matthew Good Band,' '' he said. ``We figured we'd eventually change the name, but we got stuck with it. I've hated it ever since.

``The good thing is, most people call us MGB, which is totally ambiguous. A lot of bands, when you hear their name, it pigeonholes their music. At least with us, it could be anything. We can be an art-rock band or we can be a metal band or we can be anything we want to be.''

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The Matthew Good Band includes Dave Genn, left, Matthew Good, Rich Priske and Ian Browne.