BIG BATTLE FOR JANE’S ADDICTION?

Jane’s Addiction, the young psycho-metal band that has caused Los Angeles’ most heated bidding war among record companies since the Unforgiven two years ago, is set to sign on the dotted line any day now.

According to Charley Brown of the band’s Triple X management company, all that is left is to decide which of the several major labels that have tendered offers will get the nod.

“It’s not between right and wrong. It’s between the best and the best,” he said, comparing the situation to that of a pretty girl having her choice of handsome suitors.

A survey of A&R; representatives at a handful of labels confirmed this high interest, but is Jane’s Addiction really deserving of all the attention or is it just a case of industry competition inflating its value?

“The danger is if your interest is in the competition vying for the band rather than the band itself,” said Elektra’s Peter Philbin, who signed the Unforgiven (as well as the Bangles while he was at Columbia) and acknowledges interest in Jane’s Addiction.

In the case of the Unforgiven, all the pre-signing hype did nothing to prevent the spaghetti Western-theme band’s debut album from being a critical and commercial flop.

Said Geffen Records’ Teresa Ensenat of the war for the Unforgiven, “I know for a fact that a lot of people committed hara-kiri when they didn’t get that band, but now they’re going, ‘Yeah, we were right not to sign them.’ ”

So what makes anyone believe that it will be different with Jane’s Addiction? “The problem the Unforgiven have is it was always a one-dimensional approach,” Ensenat said. “Jane has a wider range than that. They really have a vision and something to say.”

No matter who it actually signs with, Jane’s Addiction is going ahead with its own release of a live album recorded Jan. 26 at the Roxy. The half-acoustic/half-electric set is due out at the end of this month.

LOOKIN’ GOOD: Heavy-metal concerts these days look like a repository for out-of-date fashions, ranging from the post-Madonna look of a black microminiskirt over fishnets and garter belts to leopard-skin Spandex to punkish skinhead and leather. But the overwhelming clothing choice has returned to exactly what it was a decade ago: shoulder-length hair and rock-band T-shirts.

That observation was confirmed by Ami Nejad, manager of British Imports, a Hollywood store that specializes in outfitting all those heavy-metal kids.

“The only thing we sell a lot right now is T-shirts,” he said, identifying Bon Jovi and Metallica shirts as the most popular.

Of course, he adds that these trends can change by the month and are precipitated by what bands are observed wearing on stage. “I think Motley Crue is going to go back to leather and studs, the same as before,” he said. “We have to wait and see.”

WHO’S HOT: Wednesday Week is turning into one of the hottest tickets in town thanks in part to the band’s impressive new album on Enigma Records, “What We Had” (produced by Don Dixon of R.E.M. fame).

The band--guitarist and vocalist Kristi Callan, drummer (and Kristi’s sister) Kelly Callan, bassist Heidi Rodewald and guitarist David Nolte (formerly of the Last)--is delighted with the new popularity, but Kristi Callan admits there are still people who just don’t get it.

“The worst thing is when we’re at a show setting up and you hear people say ‘Oh isn’t that cute? They have girl roadies.’ Or ‘Are you carrying your boyfriend’s guitar?’ They just don’t know.”

Unfortunately, it’s not just members of the audience that can’t see past the gender blend of the 4-year-old band. “The comparison (with the Bangles) gets made all the time,” adds Kristi. “At interviews it’s ‘Where are you girls from?’ It’s like they don’t see there’s a guy in the band at all. We’ve always wanted to be known as a band that makes good music, not as a girl band. I’m sure the Bangles and the Go-Go’s had the same problem.”

Although Callan says she considers Wednesday Week to be substantially different from both the Bangles and the Go-Go’s (“I don’t mean to be rude, but I feel (our music) is deeper and has more substance”), the band’s influences clearly come from similar sources: Beatles, ‘60s pop and the late ‘70s L.A. scene of the Gun Club, Plugz, Last, and X.

The band leaves on a four-month cross-country tour in April.

DATE TO CIRCLE: With a joint album titled “So Rebellious a Lover” coming out in April on Rhino Records, Carla Olson of the Textones and former Byrd Gene Clark will team up at At My Place on March 16. Expect a warm, casual mix of old favorites and new material. Joining them on the bill is the country rocking Tin Star and Aidee Gray.

NEWS ‘N’ NOTES: Al’s Bar is open for business despite its Feb. 14 run-in with city fire marshals, who shut the club down when it exceeded the 100-capacity limit that had been granted on a temporary basis only a week before.

Due to that infraction, the temporary capacity has been revoked and Al’s is restricted to a no-permit-required capacity of 49. According to owner Marc Kreisel, modifications that will allow the capacity to be raised have been made and wait on Fire Department inspection. . . .

We goofed when we reported that former Captain Beefheart drummer Robert Williams had joined Heather Haley and the Zellots. Turns out he was only jamming with them. Instead, Williams and Red Hot Chili Peppers stickman Cliff Martinez are teaming up to record an album as Two-Headed Monster, aided by various guest musicians. . . .

As for Haley and crew, original drummer Frank White stays on board as they head for San Francisco to record an album for the CD Presents label. The band will play at the Park Plaza Hotel next Sunday as part of a benefit for Rattler magazine. . . .

Those Angry Samoans, who play the Lingerie on Friday, have a new six-song EP, “Yesterday Started Tomorrow,” out on PVC Records. Among the tracks is a raucous version of the Jefferson Airplane classic “Somebody to Love.”

FACE OFF: Ethan James’ plan when he started his Radio Tokyo recording studio eight years ago in Venice was simply to have a place to lay down his own music (he’s a former member of ‘60s acid-metal monsters Blue Cheer).

Just as the studio got going, however, the local music scene exploded and hordes of young bands came to record. More than 100 albums have come out of the studio, with James frequently producing and engineering. They range from works by the Last in 1979 to the current Jane’s Addiction. Here are some of James’ observations from behind the console:

Should-have-beens: “I think the Last should have done more. You can look at someone like Patrick Mata (of Kommunity FK) and you can see where he’s had chances to make it and he hasn’t yet but he still may.

“You have to have a certain amount of talent and creativity but I think it’s really in the attitude. Sometimes people are too critical of themselves. Sometimes they ego out and think they’re the greatest thing in the world.”

Most for least: “ ‘Double Nickles on the Dime’ (by the Minutemen). Those guys may have spent $1,000 to make that record. It was literally four weekends. At the time I was eight track and it was very cheap. And that record has gone to CD. It’s sold a lot. It’s the definitive Minutemen record as far as I’m concerned.”

The next big trend: “I’m still waiting for blues to surface again. There’s going to be some young white blues bands. They’ll be crazy but they’ll be blues-inspired, which will be interesting because that will probably increase the musicianship of the players. When people get into playing blues they start getting chops whereas a lot of pop bands aren’t really good players.”