Luscious Jackson
Electric Honey
Label: Grand Royal/Capitol
Genre: Alternative
File Under: Groove is in the heart
Rating: 83
No one can question the members of Luscious
Jackson when it comes to cred. Singer Jill Cuniff
spent her 13th birthday at CBGB's, drummer
Kate Schellenbach played with the Beastie
Boys back in their hardcore days, and the
Luscious ladies were the first band signed to the
Beasties' Grand Royal label. Even their
appearance in a Gap commercial was seen as
being cool, and not necessarily a sellout.
Of course, all that and $3.50 will get them a
frappuccino at Starbucks these days. All the
New York-based trio has to show for its near
decade of effort is one hit single, "Naked Eye,"
several wonderful but underappreciated records
(the EP In Search of Manny, and the albums
Natural Ingredients and Fever in Fever Out), and
a footnote in history for being on the frontline of
the '90s "women in rock" movement.
It's hard to say whether Electric Honey will
change things very much. It's another fine effort,
full of dizzying grooves, sampledelic sounds,
and the contrasting vocals of Cuniff (high and
soaring) and Gabby Glaser (low and slow as
maple syrup). "Nervous Breakthrough" is a
horn-driven disco breakdown, while the first
single, "Ladyfingers," is a rhythmic rocker that
asserts a tough woman's ability to be soft and
vulnerable, too. The drum and bass rhythms that
drive "Christine" look to the future, even as the
'80s white funk of Tom Tom Club is recalled on
"Alien Lover" and "Summer Daze."
But even the albums big rock moments,
"Devotion" and "Fantastic Fabulous" (the latter
of which features Blondie's Debbie Harry on
guest vocals) may fly under the radar screen of
today's modern rock fans, who seem to prefer
their records with less subtlety and guile than is
practiced by this group. That'd be too bad,
because Electric Honey is as sweet and
switched-on as its title implies.
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