Porno For Pyros
Good God's Urge

THE REVIEW

After acrimoniously disbanding Jane's Addiction in 1991, Perry Farrell felt a bit like a god on earth.

He was the rock star symbol of the rock renaissance. With Lollapalooza, he had paved the way for the era of Nirvana, bringing post-punk culture into the mainstream music biz, capable of generating millions in revenue.

However, his confidence in his abilities played a bad trick on him in the debut of his new band, Porno for Pyros. The secret of Jane's Addiction had been the unique contribution of two excellent musicians and two geniuses in creating a sophisticated and inimitable mix. The 1993 self-titled debut of Porno for Pyros was instead a one-man band that produced a substantially bland work - despite the hype generated. A work focused on monetizing the legend of Jane: in the rougher moments, a trivialization of Dave Navarro's slashes, and in the more intimate moments, soporific music for an Alpitour holiday village.

However, Farrell had the humility to curb his ego trips and reinvent his style with the subsequent "Good God's Urge," released in 1996. The sound coordinates of the 10 tracks that compose it are enticing: an hallucinogenic journey where dizzying exotic suggestions are barely enlivened by hard reminiscences of the past, following the quintessential second side of "Ritual de lo habitual".

The inspiration among these grooves is decidedly high, also thanks to the contribution of other band members, along with various cameo appearances by legendary musicians such as Matt Hyde and Flea. Guitarist Peter Di Stefano wisely avoids imitating Navarro this time and focuses on delicate and evocative scores that emphasize Perry's shrill vocals while on bass, given Martyn LeNoble's departure during the work, the great Mike Watt often guests, providing a perfect funky push in the livelier moments, for example, the cadenced title track, or the spirited "Dogs rule the night".

The opener "Porpoise head" best synthesizes the new course of PFP: a dry psychedelic rock at the crossroads of eastern sounds, culminating in a nervous, dragging finale. "100 ways" instead offers the first bizarre sound escape, with sumptuous Polynesian percussion, almost jazz trumpet solos, and a violin intricately carving the Farrellian folk canvas. "Tahitian moon" is the only concession to the mainstream, with a perfect blend of rock urgency (Matt Hyde's slide guitar is excellent) and quirky Indonesian textures, while with dreamy ballads like "Kimberly Austin" (a sunnier "Jane says", with a splendid harmonica solo) and "Wishing well" Perry reminds us he is a phenomenal performer: in the latter, he flashes applause-worthy vocals on refined and visionary arabesques: almost Hawaiian Cure.

Despite the sword of Damocles of a glorious and burdensome past (not coincidentally, in "Freeway" Navarro's magical six-string resurfaces to forge a chillingly lysergic introduction...), "Good God's Urge" remains a pleasant and happy work, an example of mystically and well-assorted psychedelic pop, certainly not revivalist because it manages to confront the new sounds of the time (for example in the claustrophobic "Thick of it all", filtered by catchy samples) and to display a remarkable poetic vein: a minor masterpiece of the 90s without a doubt.