Gig Info:
Lineup: Luscious Jackson
Performance Date: 18 August 1993
Performance Date: 18 August 1993
Country:
United States
City: Los Angeles, CA
Venue: Jabberjaw Cafe
City: Los Angeles, CA
Venue: Jabberjaw Cafe
Other Bands/Artists at the Show:
- Urge Overkill
- Further
Setlist:
Reviews:
LA Weekly, Los Angeles, California (Thu, Sep 2, 1993)
by Jac Zinder:
When there's a buzz on a band, my goodness, does it make people crazy. They'll want to know everything about the combo, even if they haven't heard a half-note. Wednesday night at Jabberjaw the triple threat of buzz bands packed this tiny joint tight.
Using dissonance the way most other bands use E-major chords, further created snapping sheets for songs, all pumped-up aggression and blurry riffs that would suddenly crash down into painfully slow dirges. They meld folk, psychedelia and angsty Sonic Youthisms together and twist them around open-ended drumming, built on the clashing sounds of artfully discordant bashing. But what a putz they have for a singer, his witty between-song patter consisted exclusively of whining about the sleaziness of Geffen Records. Sume revelation.
With the hippest of credentials (they're the first band signed to Grand Royal, the Beastie Boys' label), New York's Luscious Jackson managed to circumvent any high expectations that might have been dogging them by pulling off a set of ingenuous bouncy white girl soul/hip-hop, with roots in early- 80s East Coast female dance bands such as ESG or the Bush Tetras. When basSist Jill Cunniff rapped, she came off more like a sultry torch singer than a sassmaster. They indulged in some goofy, awkwardly charming go-go steps during "Let Yourself Get Down." since the thing was all on tape anyway, but then improved on "Daughters of the Kaos" by plaving the samples live, giving them a far rougher bark than on their CD. They're lightweight, for sure, but not insubstantial. It's a sunny kind of soul, free from absurd tough-chick posturing. I'm glad they're awkward onstage.
Then, after a long delay came the monumentally overhyped Urge Overkill, a band more famous for their sartorial than musical style. Tonight, both their attire (shirtless, with black vests. black jeans and matching gold logos hanging around their necks) and their music (slightly punked-up 70s metal cliches a la Kiss or Cheap Trick, extremely well-played but entirely too predictable) left me cold. Maybe I'm the asshole, but honestly, I thought I'd heard the last of rotten lard-assed pop like this 16 years ago. Nice medallions though.
by Jac Zinder:
When there's a buzz on a band, my goodness, does it make people crazy. They'll want to know everything about the combo, even if they haven't heard a half-note. Wednesday night at Jabberjaw the triple threat of buzz bands packed this tiny joint tight.
Using dissonance the way most other bands use E-major chords, further created snapping sheets for songs, all pumped-up aggression and blurry riffs that would suddenly crash down into painfully slow dirges. They meld folk, psychedelia and angsty Sonic Youthisms together and twist them around open-ended drumming, built on the clashing sounds of artfully discordant bashing. But what a putz they have for a singer, his witty between-song patter consisted exclusively of whining about the sleaziness of Geffen Records. Sume revelation.
With the hippest of credentials (they're the first band signed to Grand Royal, the Beastie Boys' label), New York's Luscious Jackson managed to circumvent any high expectations that might have been dogging them by pulling off a set of ingenuous bouncy white girl soul/hip-hop, with roots in early- 80s East Coast female dance bands such as ESG or the Bush Tetras. When basSist Jill Cunniff rapped, she came off more like a sultry torch singer than a sassmaster. They indulged in some goofy, awkwardly charming go-go steps during "Let Yourself Get Down." since the thing was all on tape anyway, but then improved on "Daughters of the Kaos" by plaving the samples live, giving them a far rougher bark than on their CD. They're lightweight, for sure, but not insubstantial. It's a sunny kind of soul, free from absurd tough-chick posturing. I'm glad they're awkward onstage.
Then, after a long delay came the monumentally overhyped Urge Overkill, a band more famous for their sartorial than musical style. Tonight, both their attire (shirtless, with black vests. black jeans and matching gold logos hanging around their necks) and their music (slightly punked-up 70s metal cliches a la Kiss or Cheap Trick, extremely well-played but entirely too predictable) left me cold. Maybe I'm the asshole, but honestly, I thought I'd heard the last of rotten lard-assed pop like this 16 years ago. Nice medallions though.
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