The immediate aftermath of Jane's Addiction's disbanding yielded an even split of its membership into two unusual projects. Flamboyant frontman Perry Farrell and drummer Stephen Perkins formed Porno For Pyros, darker and even more psychedelic than their former band. With far less popular success, bassist Eric Avery and guitarist Dave Navarro started Deconstruction, a one-time project with the former taking on vocal responsibilities.
Despite the pedigree and undeniable talent of these performers, Deconstruction's self-titled 1994 album proved no match for Porno For Pyros' own eponymous debut released a year before, which boasted the quirky, blithely apocalyptic alterna-rock classic "Pets." Avery's quasi-gothic tone starkly contrasted Farrell's anti-commercial, yet nonetheless familiar, over-the-top vocal presence, and, quite possibly, the fickle marketplace simply may not have desired two post-Jane's acts. Curiously, when Jane's Addiction opted to reunite later on in the 1990s, the co-founding bassist passed on the presumably lucrative opportunity, much to the dismay of many dedicated fans. After a few years of operating under the radar of the increasingly commercialized and undermined alternative music scene under the moniker Polar Bear, Avery seemingly withdrew from public life, resurfacing occasionally and under odd circumstances, perhaps most notably auditioning to replace Metallica bassist Jason Newsted in the unintentionally hysterical documentary Some Kind Of Monster. In recent years, his former Californian cohorts have stayed in the news if not in the charts, with Farrell devolving more and more into a hippie punch line and Navarro starring in his share of reality shows, including an embarrassing behind-the-scenes series chronicling the lead-up to his doomed marriage to Carmen Electra. It is unsurprisingly though commendable that Avery chose to return to the scene with dignity and self-respect when he could have just as easily taken up residence on some VH1 D-list celebrity atrocity. Uncompromising and independent, Help Wanted sets just the right tone for his reemergence from the shadows a startling seventeen years later.
Returning to a musical life in the shadow of band as monstrously popular and revered as Jane's Addiction would be daunting for any musician, especially with this much time having passed. Yet within the two minutes of epic album opener "Belly Of An Insect," its unsung bassist has clearly returned reinvigorated with an edge that his former cohorts’ most recent efforts (Farrell’s Satellite Party, Navarro and Perkins' The Panic Channel) excruciatingly lack. Based on the lyrical content of many of these songs, the years haven't brightened Avery's life all that much. On "Beside The Fire" the hypnotic rhythm section briefly make room for tortured, almost paranoiac self-evaluation "I don't know why sometimes I lose my mind / When everything seems just fine" before soaring guitars and creepy organs overtake the mix. His impressive, sincere voice channels Ian Curtis and Peter Murphy without the pretense of today's so-called gothic artists, as on the bluesy single "All Remote and No Control" and the moody yet often bombastic "Unexploded." Avery gives up the reins occasionally for a few notable guests, not the least of which being Shirley Manson of Garbage, who lends her typically unmistakable pipes to "Maybe," a slow burning and stirring ballad. Picking up the tempo a bit, "Porchlight" shifts from folksy comforts to Southern rock between verse and chorus, repeating with great effect.
Sharing Dangerbird's small but respectable roster with Silversun Pickups, a band with more than their share of reasonable comparisons to nineties' acts, Avery appears to have made a wise strategic decision. Dangerbird, in turn, surely benefit from releasing this album mere days before Avery agreed to reunite with his fellow bandmates as Jane's Addiction is dubiously honored by an overrated British tabloid music publication best known for defaming Morrissey and attempting to portray drug addict/occasional musician Pete Doherty as a tortured genius a la Shaun Ryder. Still, this win-win situation should be viewed not as cheap tactical marketing but, rather, serendipity. Help Wanted is by far the best thing to come from the Jane's Addiction breakup this century, and an outstanding release in its own right.
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