Luscious Jackson - Fever In, Fever Out
All hail the funk! The funk is HERE! And there is no way you gonna stop your ass shakin’, boy!
Luscious Jackson offer you an album of tunes slinkier than an eel in a catsuit, with Ronettes harmonies to die for and a heavy seasoning of hip hop. This New York all girl quartet are signed to the Beastie Boy’s Grand Royal label, possibly one of the hippest places in the world. It is, without doubt, fly and kicking as well. The Beastie’s influence is not as apparent as one might think, although the naked attitude and cool beats are there. A closer reference point is Beck, mixing up styles into a gargantuan gumbo of grooves. Naked Eye with lyrics like ‘Wearing nothing is divine/Naked is a state of mind’ is pure sex on a stick with enough breathy vocals to make Madonna look like a repressed convent girl. If a song can turn this most uncoordinated of music hacks into a vogueing loon, it must truly have a groove deeper than the Grand Canyon. And yet on Mood Swing, we have a more pensive, laid back jazz that transports you instantly to a roof-top bar, Southern Comfort in hand and city night life cruising below. The sultry shimmy of Under Your Skin is like TLC jammin’ with The Breeders, and ‘If you wanna know all of my original sins/Ask the Virgin, she knows where I been’ is a sweaty-palmed delight.
Even if they do tarry a little too long with Sheryl Crow styled AOR on tracks like Soothe Yourself and Why do I lie?, this is easily forgivable by the sheer lushness of the sound and coupled with personal, well-observed lyrics. they are indeed Luscious, and they’re begging you to come on over, kick your shoes off and dance a little. Come on, move your body and dance with me...(7)
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