When Puddle of Mudd frontman Wes Scantlin came up with his band’s distinctive moniker, he never imagined he’d become the first act signed to Fred Durst’s Flawless label. " We had this rehearsal space in Kansas City that was right by the levee of the Missouri River, " he says. " It was back when there was a lot of flooding going on in the Midwest. There was this huge puddle of mud outside of the space. I just thought, ‘Man, we might as well call our band Puddle of Mudd, because that’s exactly where we’re at right now.’  "

By the time Scantlin got his demo into Durst’s Midas-like hands, the original Puddle of Mudd had dissolved. But Durst wasn’t fazed: he promptly flew Scantlin out to LA, helped him recruit a new band, and enlisted Creed producer John Kurzweg to oversee the recording of the group’s debut disc, Come Clean (Flawless/Geffen). On the strength of their breakthrough neo-grunge hit, " Control " (it’s the song on the radio with the lyric " I love the way you smack my ass " ), the band have risen out of the basement-rock mire with a Top 10 album and a headlining US club tour that stops by Avalon this Friday.

According to Scantlin, it almost didn’t happen: he was about to move from his native Kansas City to New Orleans a couple years ago when a friend persuaded him to check out the Limp Bizkit–headlined Family Values Tour. He ended up sneaking backstage and pitching his tape to Durst’s bodyguard. " I have a little boy, " he explains. " I had to start thinking about making a good living at something else. My cousin was building this new bar in New Orleans, and I was going to bartend. I had been doing music since I was 12. I was like, ‘Man, this is probably not going to happen.’ I was proud of everything I had accomplished musically. All I really wanted to do was be able to pay child support and get my kid nice things. "

Instead, the singer found himself on a plane to LA, where he quickly began writing songs for the album and auditioning new players. Bassist Doug Ardito was interning at Interscope Records in LA, and guitarist Paul Phillips was an old buddy of Durst’s who flew in from Jacksonville. Drummer Greg Upchurch, whose résumé includes major-label stints with Chris Cornell and the art-grunge band Eleven, was the last piece of the puzzle to fall into place. " Greg was the key guy that we were looking for the whole time. There are a lot of really good drummers, but we really wanted to have the greatest, most hard-hitting drummer that we could possibly have. It took a while to get Greg, but we’re glad we got him. "

And though Scantlin professes his love for heartland-rock staples like AC/DC and Led Zeppelin, he doesn’t deny the profound influence of grunge on his band. " I’m very honored that people compare me to Kurt Cobain. I wish the guy was still alive. I don’t know if [Alice in Chains singer] Layne Staley is in such good shape right now either. It’s really sad to see them going down that path. Maybe they’ve actually taught me a lesson, you know? You want to be able to write songs and sing just as good as that, but you don’t want to end up down that path. "

Puddle of Mudd perform this Friday, October 26, at 7 p.m. at Avalon, 15 Lansdowne Street; call (617) 423-NEXT.