Undressing Ethyl Meatplow : Underground: The noisy L.A. dance trio wants audiences ‘to look and see there’s different ways to express yourself and your sexuality.’

A lot of groups spend time figuring out what to wear on stage. But the members of the noisy, underground L.A. dance trio Ethyl Meatplow are more concerned with what to take off.

“We did a show in Kentucky that got so wild I actually ripped my own pants off,” says Carla Bozulich, speaking in the husky voice that fans would recognize from her singing.

“I try to communicate with audiences who are really closed-minded and closed off,” the 27-year-old San Pedro native continues. “That’s why I tease them. I want them to look and see there’s different ways to express yourself and your sexuality.”

For Bozulich and her partners in Ethyl Meatplow--singer-keyboardist John Napier and drummer Harold Sanders--that expression takes fairly blunt form. With the assistance of two female dancers, the band puts on shows that feature disrobing and assorted forms of simulated sex.

“What we do isn’t altogether conventional,” admits Napier, 28. “But to hear that we actually shock people continues to surprise me.

“I’m under the assumption that everybody’s seen everything. I’m more concerned with being boring. When someone comes up to me after a show and says, ‘God, you really freaked me out,’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, but was there enough energy up there? Were we good?’ ”

More and more people seem to think so. Ethyl Meatplow’s steamy single “Queenie,” from the band’s first full-length album, “Happy Days, Sweetheart,” has shot toward the top of the Billboard magazine dance-music chart. The trio, which is “floored” by its overground success, just returned from an eight-week tour of packed punk and dance clubs. It headlines the Whisky on Sunday and plans to hit the road again in late July.

How do they explain it?

“Our music is crazy, noisy, freaked-out dance music for weirdos . . . and don’t forget very sexy,” says Bozulich. Napier, who was raised in Manhattan Beach, compares Ethyl Meatplow to instant cocoa: “We’re like a bittersweet, powdery thing--rich but gritty, and it never really melts down.”

Ethyl Meatplow started four years ago when Napier and Bozulich, who had done some home recording together, teamed with drummer-engineer Sanders.

“We came together because we were tired of music being done the same old way,” says Bozulich, like Napier an early punk-rocker who later soaked up the harsh, industrial sounds of Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire.

“Back then in L.A., even punk was going in a long-haired, rocker-ish direction,” she continues. “We were amongst the people who didn’t want to contribute another rocker band to the onslaught, so we started thinking about alternatives--that’s what Ethyl Meatplow is.”

The group financed its first single, “Dancing With Porkface,” and sold all 1,000 copies they pressed. They went on to release two more 12-inch singles on small labels and performed constantly until Dali/Chameleon, a major independent label based in New York, signed the band in 1991. “Happy Days, Sweetheart” was released last month.

Ethyl Meatplow started its career playing in East Hollywood’s gay leather bars, then moved into the underground dance clubs. Now the band plays its androgynous, lusty blend on the Sunset Strip, an area generally associated with testosterone-powered, manly rock.

“We refuse to bow down to the heterosexual, rock ‘n’ roll norm,” says Bozulich. “This kind of music is not for everyone, but anyone who has an open mind can get into what we’re doing. We’re saying liberate yourself while you still can.”