This is part of a roundtable on The Best Band No One Has Ever Heard Of. The index to the roundtable is here.
___________

 
My argument is that music can be industrial/sort of goth and not suck. By which I mean, it doesn’t have to be monotonous and dreary and “transgressive” (God help us). It can be playful and sexy. Seriously. It can sound like something you might want to listen to now. Sort of like disco.

Which – right. Never mind.

You’ve never heard of Jane Jensen (this one, not this one), but she’s charming, funny, and sexy. Really sexy. In a charming and funny way. She started out making industrial music that wasn’t dark and plodding (she wasn’t the only one, but there’s a reason it isn’t remembered as a lively genre) – Nine Inch Nails-y, but her voice is high and clear, and her lyrics are not about wanting to fuck you like an animal or hurting herself today or whatever. This is a different and, I suggest, more engaging experience. (I love NIN, by the way. It would be disingenuous to suggest otherwise.)

Jane Jensen has had a varied career. She was in Chicago theater and New York movies (she was Juliet in Tromeo & Juliet!), and she worked with Die Warzau on a side project called Oxygiene 23, which sounds like a Michael Manning title, but I probably wouldn’t be into it because I never liked Die Warzau. Aaaaannndddd she has a link to comic books, which just seemed kind of thematically pat, Hooded Utilitarian considered. She was friends with Alex Ross, Wikipedia informs me, and she was a model for some of his characters. (Remember this; it comes up again in the next sentence.) This is the joke, or at least part of the joke, behind the title and cover of Comic Book Whore, the album Jensen released in 1997. And as if that weren’t enough steaming topicality for one post, Wikipedia also tells me that Gene Ha “represented” Comic Book Whore in an issue of DC comic’s Top 10. I’m not sure if that means he included an image of it or if he held it forth as a good example, but whatever.
 

 
Jensen has recorded with a few groups and under different names, but I’m only going to discuss the stuff you could actually find and listen to. First up: Comic Book Whore.

Just to address the elephant in the room, that cover is not ideal, in my candid opinion. I have always assumed she drew the left side, and if she’s still good with it, then that’s fine. I am very much for self-expression. And, you know, it’s a pretty nice eye.

Eyes are hard.
 

“More than I Can” is the first Jane Jensen song I ever heard, and it’s still one of my, say, favorite 200 songs (that is not a dig; my Top 200 is a tightly edited list). It has it all – driving but drugged-sounding beats, cynical but potent sexuality, and a beautifully, believably world-weary tone – everyone gets obsessed with me, maybe I was obsessed with you too, but, you know, I’m tired, go away. Her voice teases as she sings “You fail with words and try again/And bring the words into your hands/Onto my skin and there it lands/You want the light inside my body/Makes you nervous/Makes you naughty.”
 

 
“Luv Song” is hot. I think. It’s a rollicking, sexy (I keep saying that, but what can you do?) ode to a friend’s awesome, awesome boyfriend. Who among us has not been there? Some of his choice qualities: “Never gets sleepy, he goes down all night …He’s not co-dependent or anything weird like that …Not really much into entomology.” And Jensen’s chatter at the end always makes me smile: “Do you have a bottle opener? Baby, this one’s not cold. Go get me another one.”
 

 
“Highway 90” is a little bit of proto-geek girl drama, and the source of the record title (“I dream about a day at a comic book store/I didn’t wanna be a groupie/But I guess I am a comic book whore”), with a nice, cutting guitar line. My favorite couplet is “I wanna be Donna Summer/But I bet she wouldn’t wanna be me.”

This record covers a certain amount of ground, stylistically. I was streaming it online and the little bar on the side kept recommending Filter’s “Hey Man Nice Shot,” which is basically Nine Inch Nails by a different name, so I agree with that. “Listen” is another take on that sound, but more of a Jesus and Mary Chain thing. Several songs rock a style I think of as “alternative performer playing with the four-track.” And there’s “Be Just Sound,” which has a heavy metal guitar hook that quickly turns psychedelic.
 
Comic Book Whore was put out by Flip, which was a subsidiary of Interscope, which was king of industrial music, back when people were actively listening to that sort of thing. This is of pretty much no interest except that I saw an interview in which Jensen was asked, “What was Flip records like? Especially when Fred Durst took it over.” And she said, “Fred wanted to produce my follow-up CD to Comic Book Whore. I couldn’t imagine how that would work so I declined. I had no idea how deeply he could hold a nasty grudge. We had the same management team – same label – it was difficult for me at that time.” (Burner, Jensen’s follow-up record, was self-produced and independently released.) This whole paragraph is basically just an excuse to point out that Fred Durst (of Limp His Kit fame) is a doorknocker.
 
Burner is Jensen’s second widely available recording, and it’s the best. It has several “fuck it” rock songs that we take for granted from the boys but seldom get from the girls (I said “fuck it,” not “shake it off”). This album has better sound than Comic Book Whore, and the songs sound more gelled. In fact, there isn’t a bad song on it, with the possible exception of “Angel” – the stadium ballad doesn’t work for her, either. (Although, to clarify, we aren’t talking “I Want to Know What Love Is.” You can hum “Angel” for days after it gets stuck in your head and not want to kill yourself.)

There’s more fuzz and reverb and shit on this one, which makes the sound fuller than the very-indie-sounding Comic Book Whore, and I prefer that, although it does obscure the lyrics somewhat. She has pretty good lyrics, and her delivery is sexy (I’m just going on record here as not really liking any of the synonyms for sexy). At any rate, the overall kick-ass demeanor does come through, although this record is less industrial and more – I don’t know. Varied. “Alternative.” I suspect this has been a problem for Jensen throughout her career, since people frequently want to know what they’re getting.
 

 
Looking at individual songs, there’s a cover of “Miss You” that’s credible, I guess. I like her original stuff better. “Rock That” – is funky. “Sick of Losing You” is brilliant for conveying the sheer frustration and annoyance of trying to hang onto a relationship you no longer even like.
 

 
“Burner” is a very dirty song – musically, I mean. Well, not just musically. “I’ve got your heart in my hand/I’ve got your tongue in my mouth/I’ve got your thoughts in my head/I’ve got your dreams on the burner.” That right there is a lovely portrait of a certain kind of relationship, romantic and wry. (Would that be a good title for a romance novel?) (Right – no. I guess it wouldn’t.)

Jensen ultimately settled into rockabilly (it’s a logical progression; see the Cramps) and released My Rockabye in 2007. The songs aren’t as strong as the songs on Burner; they remind me more of Comic Book Whore, but a mutated, grown up version. The sound is similar – simple, open, containing a high-hat interlude that sounds like Steely Dan’s “Bodhisattva.” (Fine, there is no high hat interlude on Comic Book Whore that sounds like “Bodhisattva.”)
 
“Jim Jones” is a surprisingly cute (both surprising and cute) little song about unexpectedly finding a friend. “Who are you? He said, Jim Jones. Follow me and I’ll take you home.” Aww. The halting, almost stuttering beat of “Lovers” reminds me of David Bowie’s “Heroes.” It swaggers, but, er, gently? This song is frank, a moment with a full-grown woman, as it were. “Sweet Child” is a power ballad. (See above.) And “Bedtime Baby” is adorable. I don’t throw that word around much because, contrary to common perception, I do have some dignity. But it is what it is, and that is adorable. This is a fairly traditionally put together rockabilly song about persuading the baby to go the fuck to sleep, as the recently popular book put it, so the parents can get it on. And it is successful. I admire Jane Jensen for this song.

In a way, Jane Jensen does remind me of Steely Dan. (Beyond that slightly unexpected drum thing on “My Rockabye”.) I don’t mean she has unparalleled sound work or insanely tight orchestration or jaw-dropping musicality; I’m talking about the way she skims over a number of styles but doesn’t fully embrace any of them, and mostly makes it work. (Also, this rock critic-type thing is rough – I almost caught myself using the word “uncompromising.”) Whatever genre she’s rocking, she’s a gem.