Banyan

Banyan is an alt-rock graveyard for musicians from the era of Cindy Crawford, Wayne's World and those nonsensical No Fear T-shirts. Tagged -- and printed on every one of its albums -- as the brainchild of former Jane's Addiction/Porno for Pyros drummer Stephen Perkins, the supergroup has featured such blasts from the past as Rob Wasserman of Ratdog, Mike Watt of the Minutemen and fIREHOSE, and Red Hot Chili Peppers John Frusciante and Flea. The band has been described as experimental art rock or jazzy prog punk, but there's really no reason to get all fancy: Simply put, Banyan is a jam band for jammy jamheads who jam out to instrumental jams. It's dorm-room muzak that's less album-oriented rock than it is a live experiment in hippie tolerance and improvisational groove. There's no stopping the mellowed-out beats, the smoked-out tunes or that freaking trumpet -- so cheers and jeers to Banyan for continuing to beat a Dead horse.