One of my unofficial rules here at RTB is that I'm not going to post songs from artists I've previously covered (unless they are B. Mo pantheon artists). Of course, PfP skits close to that line, as they were Perry Farrell's post Jane's Addiction band.
I bought this CD upon its release back in 1992, and because I loved Jane's so, so much and was extremely upset with their demise, I somehow convinced myslef that this CD really was good. Not so much, though. I think it was a CD that I played for a few months, put back in its case and rarely took out again. I finally sold it to a used CD store, but I bought this song on itunes one day because it was far and away the best song on the CD. It still holds up pretty well, and to me it sounds the closest to a Jane's Addiction song as anything that was done after their breakup (that is, until thier short lived reunion.
Overall, I feel really let down by the guys from Jane's Addiction. Dave Navarro had that brief stint with the Chilli Peppers (and did some pretty cool, underrated songs with them) before becoming a complete media whore, marrying Carmen Electra and appearing on MTV reality shows and second-rate band competition shows. I had always thought Perry Farrell was at least above all that, until my brother ("Big D" in the comments) called me one night and told me to turn on ABC to watch their college football intro song. He had taken issue with a post I made chiding Hank Williams II for selling out, and wanted to rub in my face what one of my "boys" was up to now with his new best friends Kelly Rowland and Fitty Cent:
"Cash in now, baby"
Back to the song though - as I said, it's really close to a classic Jane's sound - Stephen Perkins (the JA drummer that was in this band too) begins with that patented tribal beat. Well, it actually begins with a harmonica(?!), which was, inexplicably, all over this CD. It sounds really ominous combined with that rumbling bass part too. The mood of the song recalls those dingy, grimy, underground-of-LA type JA songs like "Whores" and "Pigs in Zen"; it's completely, awesomely sleazy. When Farrell hits those high notes, like on my favorite part, "Two girls in two nights got caught in the back of the alleyway / Fresh as strawberries"(2:13), I could almost believe that this band could have made something of themselves. Alas, it wasn't to be. Maybe 'ol Perry is on the comeback trail, though, after recently seeing him in Jimmy Kimmel's "I'm Fucking Ben Affleck" (3:41 in). He's still a bit of a whore, but at least he still has a a since of humor!
Oh, yeah, the video is pretty badass, too.
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3 comments:
Are you ready for some football?
I suppose I am the only one in the world who thought Porno for Pyros was better than Janes Addiction. Granted, I played their debut as well as Ritual de lo Habitual until it stopped spinning, but in hindsight, those records seem pretentious.
Jane's Addiction was on the cutting edge of the musical revolution of the late 80s - early 90s, but the sad thing is that they totally knew it.
Porno for Pyros was different because they did not produce music they thought was bigger than it really was -- it was just music, and for that reason I liked it much better.
I may also be tired of Jane's Addiction because every fucker with a guitar plays "Jane Says" right after they jam out The Indigo Girls' "Galileo".
Yes, Cursed Female was and is an awesome song. P4P was a big disappointment for me, and it blows my mind that fans generally don't talk about this song (their one highlight, in my opinion). Why was Pets so popular?!
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