There was a point during American Idol’s final stretch that a friend of mine turned to me and said, “Hang on, why am I rooting for David Cook again? I hate this post-grunge stuff.” A good question, and one that will no doubt be asked again now that the confetti has stopped flying and Austin Winkler, lead singer of nu-mooks Hinder, has extended the offer to help write material for his fellow Oklahoman’s forthcoming solo album. Is the world ready for “Lips Of An Angel II: After The Hang-Up”?

“I dig David Cook,” says singer Austin Winkler, a native of Oklahoma, where Cook has lived for the past few years. “He shows that the world is starving for a little bit of rock-n-roll. Hopefully we can write some tunes for him.”

According to Hinder, who were in the audience for this year’s Idol finale and met the winner briefly that night, the admiration is mutual. “I heard he’s a fan,” Winkler tells EW.com. “I’m sure we’ll cross paths.”

Oh yeah, Austin, I’m sure you’ll run into each other backstage at a 311 show or something. But really, given that Cook is something of a lost cause when it comes to his hopeless affection for bad, overblown rock, let’s turn our attention to the band’s more alarming designs when it comes to blowing out their one-hit wonder status into something else:

Meanwhile another Hinder member is holding out for a chance at some face time with a female Idol champ: Carrie Underwood. “I love her,” says drummer Cody Hanson (no relation to Tulsa’s Hanson brothers). “She’s my favorite of everything, and probably the hottest chick on the planet.”

Nooooo! I mean, she may like the hard rock, but the difference between “Kickstart My Heart” and Hinder’s self-hating hedonism is that one is actually, you know, fun to listen to for reasons beyond any foundation garments hanging from the lead singer’s microphone.

Hinder to David Cook: “We’ll write with you” [Hollywood Insider]