by request
Artist Biography
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
With their dark hip-hop-influenced alternative rock,
Luscious Jackson
re-create the dense, multicultural bohemian world of New York in a
collage of sound, where Spanish guitars, jazzy keyboards, funky beats,
and breathy, singsong vocals combine into one. Like
the Beastie Boys,
Luscious Jackson's eclecticism doesn't acknowledge boundaries; instead, it takes freely from every kind of music.
Luscious Jackson's first two recordings, 1992's
In Search of Manny and 1994's
Natural Ingredients, earned the band a cult following and positive critical reviews.
The core of
Luscious Jackson --
Kate Schellenbach (drums),
Jill Cunniff (vocals, bass), and
Gabby Glaser (vocals, guitar) -- all met as teenagers on the New York post-punk scene of the early '80s.
Schellenbach was the drummer in the original hardcore punk incarnation of
the Beastie Boys; she met
Cunniff when she interviewed
the Beasties
for her fanzine, The Decline of Art. Eventually, the trio began hanging
out, seeing bands that ranged from hardcore and arty post-punk to
reggae and hip-hop. When the members graduated from high school, they
went their separate ways.
Schellenbach stayed in New York, where she drummed with Hippies with Guns and attended college, while
Cunniff and
Glaser attended art school in San Francisco, where they both played in a punk band called Jaws;
Cunniff continued to edit her fanzine.
In 1991,
Cunniff and
Glaser returned to New York and began writing songs. Eventually, the duo recruited
Schellenbach and Jill's friend
Vivian Trimble to form
Luscious Jackson,
taking their name from a '60s basketball player for the Philadelphia
76ers. The following year, the group released its debut EP,
In Search of Manny, on
the Beastie Boys' record label, Grand Royal; it was reissued the following year on Capitol/Grand Royal.
In Search of Manny received very positive reviews and the group quickly became a hip name to drop in alternative rock circles.
Natural Ingredients, the group's first full-length album, was released in the late summer of 1994 to generally favorable reviews. "
Citysong" became a minor modern rock hit in the fall of that year. Before the release of
Natural Ingredients,
Luscious Jackson spent the summer of 1994 on the second stage of Lollapalooza, per the request of
the Beastie Boys. Following the release of
Natural Ingredients, the group spent most of 1995 on the road, including a stint opening for
R.E.M. on the
Monster tour.
Natural Ingredients eventually sold almost 200,000 copies.
Early in 1996,
Trimble and
Cunniff released a side project under the name
Kostars. At the time,
Luscious Jackson was continuing work on their second album, working with producer
Daniel Lanois. The result,
Fever In Fever Out, was released in fall 1996. Thanks to the single "
Naked Eye,"
the album was a steady seller, expanding the band's fan base
significantly even if it failed to become a huge hit. In April 1998,
Trimble left the band to pursue other projects, including a solo album, a collaboration with
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion drummer
Russell Simins, and a band with
Josephine Wiggs called
Dusty Trails. Continuing on as a trio,
Luscious Jackson returned in 1999 with
Electric Honey before disbanding the following spring. In 2007, Capitol Records released
Greatest Hits and bandmembers
Jill Cunniff and
Gabby Glaser each released solo albums in the same year. In 2011, the band announced that they were re-forming but founding member
Vivian Trimble
wouldn't be joining them. They released the previously unreleased
track, "Girlscout," as a free download. The lead single "So Rock On"
from their forthcoming fourth album,
Magic Hour, premiered in September 2013.
Tracklist
| 1 |
Intro |
0:05
|
| 2 |
Citysong |
4:20
|
| 3 |
Deep Shag |
3:32
|
| 4 |
Angel |
3:19
|
| 5 |
Strongman |
4:21
|
| 6 |
Energy Sucker |
3:33
|
| 7 |
Here |
3:33
|
| 8 |
Intermission |
0:14
|
| 9 |
Find Your Mind |
3:21
|
| 10 |
Pelé Merengue |
2:24
|
| 11 |
Rock Freak |
3:53
|
| 12 |
Rollin' |
4:14
|
| 13 |
Surprise |
2:46
|
| 14 |
LP Retreat |
5:29 |
