Luscious Jackson’s Fever In Fever Out probably shouldn’t have been included on my Resolution list; I gave the album a spin and it was instantly familiar. I’d actually given this album a fair amount of spins in the past. I guess it made the list because I was interested in seeing if there were any aspects of the album that I missed the first time.
Sadly, this was not the case. It’s an enjoyable album, but nothing was really additional revealed by giving it my undivided attention for a week.
The album is full of nice grooves and it’s a rather mellow affair. It’s definitely a cool-out-on-the-couch/lazy-afternoon/spring-cleaning type of album. I was pretty conscious of how chill I was when listening to Fever In Fever Out..
Listening to the album did make me regret having not seen Luscious Jackson live. I’m sure that, despite the guaranteed scent of patchouli, seeing them play probably kicked all sorts of ass. It also made me wish that Grand Royal had been more profitable as a record label, because aside from “Naked Eye” there aren’t really any obvious singles on this album, and you’ve got to dig an album that doesn’t strive for radio play.
Even though I was familiar with the album, I was completely slayed when I got to “Why Do I Lie”, which is one of my favorite Luscious Jackson songs. I love the haunting harmonies found thoughout the album, and really dig the vibe—the whole ’70s-throwback-before-it-was-trendy thing really works. And now the nostalgia for the era in which this album was released makes it doubly nice. It’s like retro twice over.
