A Perfect Circle – Mer de Noms (2000, US)

Our next spotlight is on number 590 on The List, submitted by Canine.

A Perfect Circle is sort of an off-shoot of Tool (or, TOOL?[1]), as it was founded by Billy Howerdel, who had been Tool’s guitar tech during their Ænima era and who invited Tool’s Maynard James Keenan to join as the vocalist. Or, perhaps, we could say APC is an off-shoot of Nine Inch Nails, as Howerdel had also been a guitar tech for them circa The Downward Spiral era – and had actually made his stage debut when he had to fill in on guitar for a bleeding and dazed Trent Reznor[2] – and another APC member, Danny Lohner (aka Renholdër), had also played for NIN (in the TDS and The Fragile eras) at this point. I’ve seen the term “supergroup” bandied about when reading stuff about APC too, though I’m not sure that term necessarily applies to their debut album lineup – rounded out by Josh Freese (then of The Vandals and post-1996 reunion-era Devo),[3] Troy Van Leeuwen (formerly of Failure), and Paz Lenchantin (later of a bunch of stuff including post-Deal Pixies, but I believe APC was her first break). And then, of course, there’s the sorta lazy labelling of the band as Keenan’s side project (though, granted, his involvement likely is what got them signed from the get-go on Virgin)… Anyway, however we want to describe their origins, people were clearly stoked about this band and this album – the band played Coachella in October 1999 and was already on tour for a month with NIN (for Fragility 2.0) by the time Mer de Noms was released, which then entered the Billboard 200 charts at the highest point a rock band’s debut album ever had (no. 4).

And almost exactly 25 years later, I can see why! I had never heard this album (or band) before getting ready for this spotlight, and I immediately found it really beautiful, somehow nostalgic too. Unlike the one time I listened to a Tool album, Keenan’s voice in this album quite often snaps me out of whatever doomy thoughts my brain is caught up in, as I hear sprinkles of other things I’m familiar with here and there – e.g., King Woman’s Kris Esfandiari in places (“Orestes”), Gary Numan in others (“Judith”), and dog only knows how many ghosts of the CCM[4] I used to listen to in another life throughout. I’ve since listened to this a couple times and expect to continue returning to it. For me, the stand-out tracks are the heartbreaking single “Judith”, “Renholdër” (about Lohner), and “Breña”. “Over” is also a great segue into a NIN-listening session, if one is so inclined (as I am…).

Btw, in celebration of Keenan’s 61st birthday, APC is currently in the middle of their US (plus Toronto) Sessanta V2.0 tour with Primus and Puscifer! So, if you’re unlucky enough to be there (sorry) and need some distraction/can swing it, perhaps see if they’re in your town!

• Songlink: A Perfect Circle – Mer de Noms
• Discogs: A Perfect Circle – Mer de Noms

1. According to a very scientific Fediverse poll asking if the band’s name is spelled with normal capitalization or in all caps, 69% (noice) said all caps. However, as those in the comments to that poll pointed out, a third survey option I failed to include could be all lowercase (as per the covers of both of their albums we have in The List). But, also, a stylized spelling of any sort isn’t noted on the band’s Wikipedia page, even though these sorts of things usually are pointed out, especially for well-known bands. Seeing as the logo has changed from all caps to all lowercase and back again, and both “Tool” and “TOOL” (but not “tool”) are seen on the band’s website/socials, perhaps there is no right answer? Or, perhaps the answer has been in you all along. ↩︎
2. www.revolvermag.com/music/billy-howerdel-recalls-subbing-bleeding-trent-reznor-wild-nine-inch-nails-show/ ↩︎
3. The original APC drummer was Tim Alexander of Primus, but Freese replaced him fairly soon after the band entered the studio to record Mer de Noms. Alexander’s only APC studio contributions are on the album’s first track. Alexander has rejoined and left Primus multiple times, most recently leaving at the end of last year, so unfortunately he won’t be on stage with APC for the Sessanta V2.0 tour mentioned above. ↩︎
4. Stands for Contemporary Christian music. In a replay of what I experienced when I first listened to Downward Spiral a year ago, it’s clear to me that CCM bands I really dug around the time these two albums came out were very inspired by NIN and APC, if not completely ripping them off. ↩︎