Maybe it's a family trait. Bob Dylan loves being on the outside of the industry looking in; he's made a career of it. His son, Jakob, now enjoys the same role with his band, the Wallflowers.

"I like being the underdog,"says the younger Dylan. "Plus, the fans are the ones who mean the most to me."

Jakob Dylan, 32, is trying to come back from the relatively slow sales of the Wallflowers' last CD, Breach, which came out two years ago and bombed by comparison with the 5 million-selling Bringing Down the Horse in 1996. But the drop-off wasn't the worst thing in the world. "In a lot of ways, it gives you freedom. It gets people's eyes off of you," he says.

He used the break to write songs for a new album, Red Letter Days, which came out this week and should get some of those eyes back on the Wallflowers. It's a much better album than the last, with some punchily arranged rock songs and more soulful vocals.

"These songs required a different approach than before," he says. M-fAnd I paid more attention to the singing. Before, I used to just sing because I wrote the songs."

"I couldn't pretend to know what radio and the public wants to hear. I don't know why they latched on to Horse and not the last album," he adds. "But maybe we have been a little too precious with the recordings. Maybe there have been too many years between them. The point is to have a good time. Records don't have to be a burden."

The new one is definitely not that. The Wallflowers are back to their chiming, Tom Petty-like best, this time augmented by Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready on many tracks. "I like him because he's not a session guy," says Dylan. "He's in a group that writes songs, and he brought that same instinct to us."

Some critics are starting to call the album "hopeful," but that seems too simplistic a summary. "I don't feel it's a happy record," says Dylan. There are definitely mixed emotions in "Everybody Out of the Water" (influenced by Sept. 11) and in relationship songs such as the slow-grooved but sarcastic "Health and Happiness" (I wish you health, I wish you happiness, but nothing else), and the double-edged "See You When I Get There."

But don't go looking for trouble in Dylan's marriage because of such songs. "Have I broken up with my wife? No," he says. "People always assume songs are about a man and a woman. But we all have a lot of other relationships in our lives.

"Everything feels good right now."