Whores
Watching the DVD included with Jane's Addiction's recent box set, A Cabinet Of Curiosities, I couldn't help but marvel at the sheer power and sexual vibrato the band exhibited their first time around. Their music, and especially their live performances dripped that essential sex rhythm found in the early Doors. In fact, for my money, they were the spiritual heirs to the mighty Doors, synthesizing sex, drugs, poetry, danger, love, lust, and humor.
From the spiritual lineage of Bowie, Iggy, and Peter Murphy, it flowed out of Perry like a poet shaman. It jumped out of Dave, vibrant and electric; violent, flowing sheets of sound. But the key element, the one thing that most effectively could showcase Dave and Perry was the rhythm section of Eric Avery and Steve Perkins. Over the last ten years, I've seen three different lineups of the mighty Jane's Addiction, and I can say with absolute certainty, even though as a bass player I'm admittedly biased in favor of the low end, that the lineup with Eric Avery on bass made Jane's Addiction a powerful force of nature, rather than a just damned good band.
That's what a good rhythm section does. It locks down the rhythm. It drives the song; pushes it like a freight train. It lays the groundwork for the guitar and vocals to let it rip. It serves the song. I've seen Steve Perkins many times, both with Jane's Addiction and with his jazz punk jam (ick!) group Banyan, and the guy is never playing at less than 110%. AND he nails every single beat with a smile. No macho rock constipation face for Steve. It's pure joy for him, and it shows in his playing. But a good drummer can only do so much, and I dare say, that he's only as good as his bass player. That's why Perks rips with Mike Watt in Banyan and Hellride, and with Eric Avery. He's good in Jane's Addiction with Flea, Martyn LeNoble, and Chris Chaney, but he's great with Eric Avery.
Eric Avery is a soft spoken motherfucker who doesn't come on with bass diarrhea a la the very talented Flea or equally talented Les Claypool. He serves the song. Drives it. Gives it authority. I can't explain how or why. It's not about mere notes with Eric. It's about attitude, but hell, all of Jane's Addiction was about attitude. Pure Stooges mainline attitude. At least for me.
As I watched this television transmission of the mighty Jane's Addiction at the height of their rhythmic sexual heroin power (Note: drummer NOT on dope. See Joe Strummer's analysis of great jazz bands and the drug proclivities of the horn players vs. the drummers. Dope fucks up a drummer, and Eric sticks to tea.), I couldn't help but think about the NEW Jane's Addiction single I heard yesterday, End To The Lies.
It's a good song. Hell, Jane's Addiction on a bad day is better than most bands at their height. But it didn't move me the wayPigs In Zen or Whores does. It didn't make me want to fuck or break anything (paraphrase of Henry Rollins. He got it right!), and if a rock and roll song doesn't make me want to do either, preferably not at the same time, I may like it, but I'll never love it. James Brown, The Stooges, Black Flag, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Birthday Party, The MC5, Slayer, early Clash and early Ramones all do that to me, as did the druggy, sweat drenched first edition of Jane's Addiction. But this was just a good song, and nothing special, the only standout being Dave's ripping guitar work, and I'm fine with that. If EVERY song made me want to fuck on the floor and break shit, then, no song would make me want to fuck on the floor and break shit. Get it?
Artists, both good and bad, evolve. Dylan's made some stinkers in his time, and not everyone digs the way he's reinterpreted his songs these days, but to my way of thinking, it doesn't make him any less valid an artist. The same can be said for the enigmatic Crass. Those of you who know them likely hold them in high esteem and for good measure, but their last record, Ten Notes On A Summer's Day, pissed a good lot of their fans off. It was avant to the extreme, but not avant punk like their fans had come to expect (Any of you anarchos out there who want a copy of this need only to send me a message, and I'll spirit a copy away to you, or you can download it here. ). The same can be said for the Clash, who seemed to loose old fans as every record evolved: too produced, not punk enough, too much reggae, a hip hop song???, etc, ad nauseam. Metallica got like shit when they decided not to make the same record for a sixth time with Load. Granted, I like their earlier records better than said stylistic departure (see "fuck on the floor and break shit" above), but they gained a lot of respect from me, while loosing it from a good portion of their simian fan base. Even the great, the unimpeachable, the heavyweight champion of jazz, John Coltrane got a bunch of shit from purist swine when he took the music far out. They called his music anti jazz, as if jazz or any genre is a fucking marble sculpture. The list goes on.
A few bands like Slayer, and to a large extent, the Ramones and Bad Religion can have vibrant, exciting careers with little change involved. They're smart enough to know what works and what doesn't. Bad Religion slipped for a moment with a prog record, Into The Unknown, but other than that have stayed the course.
And really, who cares? Nothing in life is static. Romantic love fades, pets die, hair falls out, friends stray, and Hendrix dies. Why should music be any different? As much as the atheist in me hates to give credence to any religious teachings, I dig the Buddhist thing about non-attachment. Shit's gonna change, so dig it now, and let it go when its of no use to you. Or change with it and dig the new.
Of course I'll buy the new Jane's Addiction record when it drops, and I'll listen to it with an open mind. I may like certain records better than others, but if they all sounded the same, then none of them would be great. I'll always love the Jane's Addiction of old, and not because I'm stuck in 1990. It's music that moves me like the best of friends, the best sex, strong coffee, or a Jackson Pollock painting. Simple as fucking that. To put anything more onto it would be a pathetic attempt to sully it.
Today's soundtrack:
kay:
I need to listen to some Jane's Addiction again. I have not in ages it seems.
misslimabean:
vintage playboy ;)