Deconstruction
Deconstruction

Saturday night, stuck at home with a fever, on Debaser. Here I am, writing another review for a Five Star album. An album I had almost forgotten in some folder on my PC. But sooner or later, it had to return to my ears.

Remember Jane's Addiction? I mean the ones from the '86 - '92 period. The ones who came to Milan to give a memorable performance, which I could only see thanks to YouTube. The ones who split up before I was born. Certainly not the ones from Strays or their last work that I don't even mention.

If you know them a little, you'll also know that in the last two decades, the various members have been busy with the most disparate (and desperate) formations. Perry Farrell founded Porno For Pyros with Stephen Perkins, and later The Satellite Party and a solo album. Eric Avery formed Polar Bear. Dave Navarro is the one who hustled the most. He hustled with the Red Hots, without integrating, he hustled with the Panic Channel, with the Guns, and as a solo artist. I'd like to say he also hustled with Carmen Electra, but that might be too vulgar a joke (I'm sure this will turn into negative votes). In any case, it's highly likely that the latter was the highest peak of his career in the last 15 years. Recently, he has transformed into a Jersey Shore-style tough guy (which my peers like so much), an orange and black mannequin (for the ink) wearing D&G.

None of the extra-Jane's projects were ever really noteworthy, except for this "Deconstruction." Who are Deconstruction? Once again, let's take a step back. It was 1992 when the Avery - Navarro duo declared themselves "tired of Farrell's tyranny" and claimed they had to stay away from the group to avoid falling back into drugs. Obviously, they've been clean all these years without any relapses, it's easy to imagine.

So they decided, in 1993, to lock themselves in the studio to record tracks, without too many expectations. In fact, this band will not gain much attention from either the critics or the public and MTV. On drums is Mike Murphy, a musician of whom very little is known, who doesn't seem to show much inventiveness and is often replaced by a drum machine.

Here, Eric Avery manages to express the inventiveness long suppressed (or released in tiny doses) during the JA era. He becomes the main voice, although more than singing, his style is based on spoken word. He recounted having drawn inspiration for some lyrics or phrases from poems by unknown L.A. authors and graffiti that covered the city's walls.

If you think of the first Jane's Addiction album (the masterpiece "Nothing's Shocking") and focus on the bass lines, you'll notice that they were tremendously repetitive, albeit monolithic and interesting. The grooves were the foundation on which Navarro painted riffs, echoes, distortions, solos, etc. And on which Perry Farrell screamed his depravities.

A track like "L.A. Song," however, presents a decidedly more varied structure, moving from a melodic bass arpeggio to acidic funk (which anticipates something from the Peppers' "One Hot Minute") and ends with a pompous reprise of the initial part. The opening track of the album I'm reviewing, it's one of the few where the guitarist also has vocal parts. A video will also be shot, with the band alternating between driving around in a car and playing in a dark room with slides projected onto their bodies.

Navarro also unleashes his imagination with delicate arpeggios, sharp solos, and in general, textbook arrangements.

It's one of those works where the level remains more or less constant throughout its duration. One of those that, more than others, cannot really be reviewed with the track-by-track method. If I have to recommend some tracks to those who don't yet know this project, I opt for the already mentioned opening track, then "One," "Big Sur," and "Iris," an instrumental gem. Oh, and also "Get At 'Em" and "Fire In The Hole." Both tracks feature a guest appearance by Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers.

This was and remains an isolated project, not taken too seriously by its authors, never toured, and over the years has become a cult object in that musical environment that loves to define itself as "alternative" (by the way, if I'm not mistaken, this is a term coined by Farrell himself). There will probably never be a reunion. These pieces will never be performed live, also because they are the result of experiments, overdubs, city sounds, various recordings that would imply extensive use of playback. At least as far as the backing tracks are concerned.

All I can advise you, then, is to search for this album on the Internet (it's no longer in stores, and maybe it never was in Italy), get the lyrics, and proceed with listening.

For me, it remains the only truly worthy side project ever created by Jane's members. The rating, as I already mentioned, is 5. I hope I've sparked some interest in you. Thank you for your time.