Maroon 5 have certainly come a long way since their days in the indie outfit
Kara's Flowers. After the band's demise in 1999, frontman
Adam Levine surrounded himself with New York City's urban hip-hop culture and found a new musical calling.
Maroon 5 were born and their debut album,
Songs About Jane, illustrates an impressive rebirth. It's groovy in spots, offering bluesy funk on "Shiver" and a catchy, soulful disposition on "Harder to Breathe." "Must Get Out" slows things down with its dreamy lyrical story, and
Levine is a vocal dead ringer for
Men at Work's
Colin Hay. Don't wince -- it works brilliantly.
Songs About Jane is love-drunk on what makes
Maroon 5 tick as a band. They're not as glossy as the
Phantom Planet darlings; they've got grit and a sexy strut, personally and musically. It's much too slick to cross over commercially in 2002, but it's good enough for the pop kids to take notice. [
Songs About Jane's 20th Anniversary Edition contains a bonus disc with demo versions of every one of the album's 12 songs, plus demos of four non-LP songs -- including the international B-side "Ragdoll" -- and an alternate mix of "The Sun."] ~ MacKenzie Wilson