The Severed Cortex

Link: http://www.mcrut.com/mcrut/

I suppose there are those of a certain age, say 25 and under, that only know Perry Farrell as the guy who started Lollapalooza.  And, oh yeah, he used to be in a band.  For my generation that character was played by Bob Geldof.  However, there is one big difference between Bob Geldof and Perry Farrell.  Geldof's band, The Boomtown Rats, were nowhere near as good of a band as Farrell's band, Jane's Addiction.  Almost no one cites the Rats as an influence.  Almost everyone cites Juana's Adiccion.  And for good reason.  Along with bands like Nirvana, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Pearl Jam, they formed the core of what came to be known as the Alternative music movement.  Together they laid the groundwork for a radical shift in the kind of music, that until then, was never heard on the radio.  At least not during the light of day in middle America.  Now the furthest thing from alternative is anything labeled as Alternative music.

So given Jane's Addiction's stature, it would be no surprise that there might be a band somewhere wanting to copy that sound.  Hey, bands copy other bands sound all the time.  It's the nature of the art.  As a music snob I can respect that.  Tribute bands aside, that doesn't give a band carte blanche to sound exactly like another band.  In fact, it should be discouraged at all costs in my opinion.  In my experience, bands that set out to copy another band's sound usually only succeed in putting out a far inferior product.  When you set out to copy a band like Jane's Addiction, you have a very steep hill to climb.

Do I know that Middle Class Rut set out to copy Jane's Addiction?  In the words of Justin Timberlake as Robin Gibb: No, no I don't.

Take the 30 second spin through all the tracks on 25 Years and make up your own mind as to whether they did or not.  I think you'll agree that if they didn't blatently copy (and I don't think they did), they at least owe a giant debt to the band (I think they do).  Probably some royalties too.  Technically that's not true.  Every song on here is an original and to the band's credit the songs are well done.  There's just no equivalent to any of the great Jane's Addiction songs.  There are plenty that measure up to the level of say Chip Away or Had a Dad or Obvious, but none in the vaunted Pigs In Zen or Jane Says realm.  Second tier Jane's Addiction songs I know, but still songs that spark a pleasure point in your earhole when you hear them today.  At least they still do for me.  All this bashing doesn't mean this is a piece of crap that you should stay far away from.  25 Years is not a bad EP at all.  It's just not a great EP either.  If you are a very devout Jane's Addiction fan like me, you can appreciate this CD for what it is; a fairly well done homage to a great band.   That's the only thing that could possibly explain why I broke my rule against buying EP's.   At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.