Albums revisited: Deconstruction steps up to the bar: new contributor Peter Marks looks back on the underrated release from Jane’s Addiction alums Dave Navarro and Eric Avery.
Bassists always draw the shortest straw from fans of the bands they are in, Kids In The Hall famously chided the bass player in one of their many memorable sketches. People go to shows and sort of gloss over where this member is playing, he or she is often referred to as “whatshis/her face on bass”.
Eric Avery often got that sort of treatment during his tenure in Jane’s Addiction, overshadowed by Perry, Dave and even Stephen in just about every video they made or interview they did. On album it was a much different story. Consider for a moment songs like “Ted, Just Admit It”, “Mountain Song” or their breakout hit “Been Caught Stealing” without him, not really worth contemplating is it? If you’re still unconvinced about how integral that “other member” is then consider a Curve without Dean Garcia, a Cure without Simon Gallup, a Bauhaus without David J or a Japan without Mick Karn.
Pretty worthless, aren’t they? I won’t even get into New Order trying to limp on without Peter Hook. The elevated blood pressure just isn’t worth it. Suffice to say it’s a money grab and nothing more, enjoy your record.
With the wreckage of Jane’s in the rear-view mirror, two camps emerged from the rubble. One became Pornos For Pyros and enjoyed quite a bit of success with their first album and serious confusion from the public in response to their second.
The other were the band who made the record in question here and what a record it is. It is an oversimplification to say this but Deconstruction’s one release is the best LP Jane’s Addiction never made and though only one track on here, “Big Sur”(a gorgeous, yet isolated region of California where much of this sprawling creation originated from) even sounds remotely familiar, if Perry and Stephen had been on board then this would have cemented their reputation for all time.
Click here for Albums Revisited: Jane’s Addiction’s ‘Ritual De Lo Habitual’ Turns 25
As it stood, most Jane’s fans weren’t too enthralled by what was going on with Eric and Dave’s baby. The guitars were a veritable labyrinth to get lost in while Avery’s bass and monotone sing/speak vocals contrasted like oil to water; all of this was anchored by Michael Murphy’s (Dream 6) more than competent contributions from behind the kit.
Somehow this worked and it worked well enough to compel them to release a single and even a video for “L.A. Song”. Don’t feel bad if you didn’t see it, MTV probably only aired it two or three times; there wasn’t any swank première on 120 Minutes and to date I have read exactly one (1!) interview with the band and it only appeared after they’d split up.
The fifteen songs making up their début finale did not follow the verse/chorus approach of standard rock music, things trailed off and time signatures became heroic. “Single” perfectly sums up how the dating scene worked via personal ads (internet dating was a long way off, kids) with Eric coldly listing off details people threw out to attract the perfect mate before lapsing into the aftermath of what you youngsters so love to seek out: the hookup.
“One” concludes with a harmonized guitar assault which must have utilized every single cabinet Dave Navarro possessed. It’s no exaggeration to state that his playing was at its absolute zenith on this album.
The riffs are vicious and the tones so spot on I’m still shaking my head 21 years later at how unregarded and unloved Deconstruction’s one record remains. Oh, and get this, some of the drums were loops (gasp) while a few songs contained field recordings of the natural surroundings… B-b-but rock records aren’t supposed to do that!
Oh the humanity.
“That Is All” surely has to be Eric Avery’s last statement on the subject of why Jane’s fell apart and how he feels about it, not that anyone was asking him (or Navarro) for details. No, the press would save those questions for when Dave joined the Chili Peppers the following year.
This brings us to the concluding remark: why did they vanish after just the one release? Navarro wanted to tour the album and Avery wasn’t interested in doing so, thus they went their separate ways-insert Journey reference here– and haven’t done another album together since. But the door remains open and my fingers are staying crossed.
Peter Marks.
11 September 2015