Luscious Jackson
Electric Honey
- Capitol/Grand Royal
Trimmed down to a trio since the departure of keyboardist Vivian Trimble, Luscious Jackson's third full-length album is the most fully realized of its career.
Jill Cunniff, Gabby Glaser, and Kate Schellenbach have exquisitely melded their early 1980s punk roots with a healthy dose of hip-hop grooves, girl-group pop and alt-rock overtones for a wondrous pastiche. Playful and provocative, and packed with wickedly delectable tunes,Electric Honey kicks off with the dance-propelled funk of “Nervous Breakthrough” and slides right into the electronic-laced standout single “Ladyfingers.”
Other highlights include the electric/acoustic “Christine”, which is sparked by a killer chorus and a cool combination of Schellenbach's restless percussion with Daniel Lanois' lazy-styled slide guitar; the wild “Sexy Hypnotist,” which sounds like it somehow should have worked its way into the latest Austin Powers film; and the red-hot rockin' “Devotion,” which is again driven by Schellenbach, whose beat-blasting credentials date back to her days as the first drummer for the Beastie Boys.