Boys won't be boys

We're not like 'N Sync and the lot, 98 Degrees insists

Nobody's asking you to feel sorry for 98 Degrees.

 Understandably, it's sort of tough to whip up much sympathy for a successful group of four good-looking young guys who garner attention from thousands of devoted female fans and sell millions of records worldwide.

 But chatting with the half of 98 Degrees made up of brothers Nick and Drew Lachey, you realize that maybe it isn't as easy as it looks. Not because of who they are, but because of who they aren't. Specifically when it comes to those oft-uttered b-words: boy band.

 98 Degrees is not 'N Sync. They're not the Backstreet Boys. They're not a boy band. OK? OK.

 "The only real similarity is we're played on a lot of the same radio stations," said Drew during an interview yesterday while 98 Degrees was in town to promote its upcoming album, Revelation.

 "You listen to our music, there's obvious differences. You look at us, there's obvious differences. You look at our stage show, there's obvious differences.

 "Everybody categorizes people, but I think it's just laziness. The term 'boy band,' that's just people being lazy, not wanting to find out the differences or acknowledge the differences."

 For the uninitiated or merely cynical, the differences include the type of material (98 Degrees has made a name for itself doing slow-tempo ballads), the ages of the members (most of the guys are in their mid or late 20s) and the artistic input (the guys, which include Jeff Timmons and Justin Jeffre, co-wrote almost all of the songs on the latest album, due in stores in two weeks).

 "It's unfortunate, because even 'N Sync and Backstreet, whom I think are much more alike than we are to either of those groups, are still different, still do different things," said Nick.

 Still, the guys don't fret too much over it. The first single from the new album, the Latin-tinged Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche), is sailing up the charts. They're doing tons of TV and press. And they appeared during a key moment of the recent bizarre MTV Music Video Awards, as the group (plus a bewildered Toni Braxton) were called upon to divert attention away from a bit of mayhem caused by Rage Against the Machine's bass player.

 "He just climbed up on whatever that metal contraption was and started rocking it, and we were literally standing right behind it backstage," said Drew.

 "We thought, 'All right, great, this thing is gonna fall down and stab one of us.' "

 "It was just mass confusion, really," said Nick. "They wanted to get us on the other part of the stage so they could get the cameras on us while they got this guy off, so it wasn't on live TV."

 The guys will be back in the MTV studios later this month to promote Revelation, and there's little doubt that there will be a hefty contingent of screaming female fans on hand to welcome them. But Nick and Drew insist, honest to goodness, there really is more to their fans.

 "They (teenaged girls) scream the loudest, they have the signs, they paint themselves, they throw teddy bears," said Drew. "But you look in the back and you see some older women just watching, you see some guys who are there with their girlfriends, singing along."

 But the brothers acknowledge that, ultimately, there's not a lot you can do to change people's perceptions.

 "People don't give it a fair shake," said Drew. "But you just create music you're happy with, and screw everybody who doesn't like it."