The Panic Channel

You may ask yourself, "Why hasn't HM said a word about Dave Navarro's new band, The Panic Channel (which is 3/4 of the latest defunct incarnation of Jane's Addiction)? The answer is simple really: I haven't been too fond of the songs they've released so far.

Go take a listen yourself at their home page or their MySpace page. "Teahouse of the Spirits" is rock-y, but nothing that makes me go "w00t". Part of it has to do with their singer, Steve Isaacs. It may not be fair to him, but he's no Perry.

Second, Dave just isn't at his best here guitar-wise. The riff is fine (better than what most guitarists do these days), but his I expect much more technically from Dave (the lick he wrote for the Chili Peppers's "Warped," for example, is so much cooler). There's some ok lead noodling at the end of the tune, but man do I miss the shredding Dave of the Nothing's Shocking days.

The other song you can hear, "Why Cry," is downright bland. The quieter stuff on Dave's solo record, Trust No One, makes my ears prick up more. I will say the solo screams more than one would expect for a song as blah as this, so at least I wake up a bit in the middle of the tune.

Their album, One, gets released August 15.