ERIC AVERY
Help Wanted

Though it’s been 17 years since the demise of Jane’s Addiction, bassist Eric Avery has surfaced intermittently, pursuing a couple of projects in the ’90s (Deconstruction, with Dave Navarro, and Polar Bear) as well as working with Garbage and Smashing Pumpkins. To his credit, he declined to sign on with the ill-conceived 2001-03 Jane’s Addiction reunion, although based on the evidence presented by his first solo album, he should’ve taken the Jane’s money and run. Heavy on atmosphere and low on inspiration, Help Wanted takes its cues from Bowie and Bauhaus, from brooding prog-metal operetta “Belly Of An Insect” to the circa-late-’90s techno rock of “Beside The Fire.” Worse, Avery’s vocals strive for the drama of Jim Morrison but come across as second-tier Iggy Pop, and this forced gravitas renders the spoken-word “Revolution” (featuring pithy verbiage such as “I get sick/I get well/But am I ever better/I can never tell”) unintentionally hilarious. Likewise on “Maybe” (a duet with Garbage’s Shirley Manson), which is intended to convey lush, crimson-hued romance but more often summons images of a black-clad Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra at the local goth club. Also pitching in are Flea and the Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins, but no amount of star wattage can make this mess shine. [Dangerbird, www.dangerbirdrecords.com]

—Fred Mills