ellV Entertainment

De insciOUS

Luscious Jackson leaves behind its _fledgling
days and develops a solid musical persona.

LYNNE MEREDITH COHN STAFF WRITER

ou could say that Luscious Jack-
son has "moved past the `Men
Suck!' phase," (according to vocal-
ist/bassist Jill Cunniff) and into
a more girly era with even a couple of love
songs on the band's latest album, Fever In
Fever Out. But it better not be within
earshot of the band.
"At this point, gender is incidental," says
Curmiff. 'We have male and female fans.
And hopefully we've answered the ques-
tion, What's it like to be women playing in
a rock band?' for the last time. We've had
to live through the whole sensation of
'women in rock.' It happens every couple
of years, then it goes away. Whatever. Well
still be around."
Luscious Jackson is a band with a rep-
utation of tough, don't-mess-with-us
women who put out a few good riffs on their
guitars. Forget the days of angry grrrl rock,
though; it's a more melodious time, with
singles inspired by the passionate blues of
New Orleans and the intensity of down-
town Manhattan.
'When we started hanging out togeth-
er, we saw a lot of great bands, but we also
dug early hip hop," says Kate Schellenbach,
who played drums for the Beastie Boys
at age 15 and is now drummer for Jack-
son. "It was very connected to growing up
in the public school system; party music
without a lot of meaning, that played with
words and breakbeats. The cool kids in high
school were into hip hop, and we'd learn
all the rhymes. There was great dancing
and graffiti art. It was very New York."
On the new album, the band brought in
producer Daniel Lanois, of U2, Peter
Gabriel, Bob Dylan and solo fame, to add
a soulful touch. The result: deeper, denser,
more intuitive music.
Gabby Glaser, the band's vocalist and
guitar player and the band's only Jewish
member, says you can't really classify Lus-
cious Jackson's sound. "It's a little mix of
everything," she says, or as actor Kevin Ba-
con put it, "so-co-fo" — a cross between soul,
funk and country. 'That's how I feel about
it," Glaser says.
Luscious Jackson came into being in
1991, when Glaser and Cunniff got to-
gether to pound out some tunes that com-
bined "live instruments and sample beats
and sounds."

They made a demo kit and played it for Glaser — Emmylou Harris sings on the me onto Patti Smith and the Clash. They
a few friends, including Mike D, vocalist new album, in "Why Do I Lie?" and taught me how to play guitar," says Glaser,
who at age 13 went out and bought a $25
and drummer for the Beastie Boys. "He "Soothe Yourself"
But Glaser admits she gets a little hu- guitar to strum. The rest is history. 0
liked it," Glaser recalls. Mike D was look-
ing to start his own record label and want- mor from her Jewish roots. "I'm a huge
ed to grab Luscious Jackson for his new Lenny Bruce fan. He was very daring, but
I don't know if that's a Jewish quality,"
lit Luscious Jackson appears with Live
venture, she says.
and Fun Lovin' Criminals 7:30 p.m.
The band's first album, In Search of says Glaser.
Tuesday, Aug. 19. $18-$28. Pine Knob
Glaser got the musical itch as a young
Manny, debuted in 1992 on Grand Roy-
Music Theatre. Call (248) 645-6666.
al/Capitol, and is described as "a seduc- teem Back in 1979, a friend named Joanne,
tively catchy 24-minute, seven-track EP whose brothers played in a band, "turned
that blends girl group pop,
hip-hop rhythms and
smooth urban attitude
into a unique stew." And
in case you heard that the
title was inspired by a re-
sale music shop in New
York City, think again;
Manny was Glaser's moth-
er's boyfriend when she
was younger.
The band includes Cun-
niff, Glaser, former Beast-
ie Boys drummer Kate
Schellenbach and Vivian
Trimble on keyboards and
backing vocals. It made
the mainstream stage
opening for REM, but had
cultivated a following be-
fore that.
They named them-
selves Luscious Jackson
after a sports announcer's
mispronunciation of NBA
star Lucius Jackson's
name. Trimble and Schel-
lenbach joined the gang
during the making of its
debut LP.
Glaser says her input to
the band's style doesn't
come much from Jewish
influences. Rather, the
band is inspired by any
and all good music — in-
cluding Sly and the Fam-
ily Stone, Bob Marley,
Stevie Wonder, T. Rex,
Miles Davis and Siouxsie
and the Banshees, to
name a few. Even country
music influences the girls
in Luscious Jackson, says The members of Luscious Jackson are, left to right, Jill Cuniff, Vivian Trimble, Gabby Glaser, Kate Schellenbach.