Jill Cunniff - vocals, bass, guitar

Gabrielle Glaser - vocals, guitar

Kate Schellenbach - drums

Vivian Trimble - keyboards, backing vocals

Fever In Fever Out is a rite of passage for Luscious Jackson. The four women, whose sample-heavy grooves have long evoked the moods and colors of downtown New York, have taken a new direction, exploring the full depths of live recording for the f= time Fever.. was recorded New Orleans (where samples of the city's ambiance helped build the heady Fever.. atmosphere) and a small, equipment-packed room in drummer Kate Schellenbach's downtown New York loft.

Lead track "Naked Eye" quickly captures the essence and feel of Fever.. It's myriad layers of pulsating subterranean funk fuse into a single deep groove, yet somehow retain their complexity and mystery. Layers are key to the album throughout, both in its sonic richness and lyrical depth. "Me subject matter on this album is very personal," vocalist/bassist Jill Cunniff explains. "I hope the messages come through in a subtle way .. the meanings should drift in. There are core themes like honesty and the search for a balance between hot and cool, passion and dispassion. And it's not a cynical record at all; there are even love songs on here!" "Under Your Skin" and "Electric" are two examples that bear this claim out, expanding beyond the confrontational tone of "Strongman" and "Energy Sucker" from 1994's Natural Ingredients ("You could say we've moved past the 'Men Suck!' phase," laughs Jill) with emotions new to the Luscious repertoire. "I prefer that the songs speak for themselves," counters vocalist/guitarist Gabby Glaser. "I like each song to suggest its own vibe."

Producer Daniel Lanois--yes, he of U2, Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, and Bob Dylan credit-was imported from Canada to add his soulful touch to the recording process. Working with the band and longtime Luscious ally and engineer Tony Mangurian (who co-produced Natural Ingredients with the band), Lanois embellished the band's maturing songwriting with a broad array of deep moods and lush textures (Compare, for example, the organic, guitar-based "Why Do I Lie?" to the ethereal "Water Your Garden"). Lanois' influence on Luscious' creative process included numerous trips into his chest of obscure musical toys, as well as inviting Emmylou Harris and N'Dea Davenport (of the Brand New Heavies) to sing on the album (Emmylou sings on "Why Do I Lie?" and "Soothe Yourself"; both sing on "One Thing"). Moreover, the album's live:feel can be attributed to Lanois' efforts to capture the spontaneity of every performance, especially the vocals. "Daniel was so bent on catching the moment," recalls keyboardist Vivian Trimble, "that he squeezed all of us, and him, into this little room. He'd turn the lights down low, light candles, then sit with this huge tambourine and blow sage smoke into our faces to make sure we weren't too selfconscious."

"This album is full of my favorite kind of songwriting," says Lanois. "I call it 'snapshot' writing. These are the kind of songs that are written about personal experiences, things that happen quickly, in a day, be it a triumph or a disappointment. If the song is written about the moment, it usually holds truth."

The result is a deeper, denser, more intuitive album than Luscious Jackson's previous work; yet one that harkens back to spacier moments of the band's past, such as Natural Ingredients' "LP Retreat." @ quantum leap in Luscious Jackson's musical growth owes largely to the experience gained through playing (literally) hundreds of shows. By the time Natural Ingredients was in stores, the band was already sharing a basketball court with Buddhist monks and a juicer with the Beastie Boys on 1994's Lollapalooza. Two years and nearly 200,000 records later, Luscious Jackson had circled the globe a few times over, headlining their own sold out shows as far as Japan and Australia, and accepting a personal invitation to brave the arena circuit as support for R.E.M.

"All that touring taught us to play as a band," Jill recalls. "There's a huge difference between being competent on a musical instrument and having the ability to play as a part of a group. It really built up our confidence. I think that's what enabled us to play simpler, more guitarbased songs like 'Faith,' 'Sturdiest' or 'Why Do I Lie?'. I'd been writing stuff like that for a long time, but never had the confidence to play it with the band, let alone record it, until now."

While Luscious Jackson's music moves swiftly into the future tense, the band members' roots are still showing. Kate Schellenbach, Jill Cunniff and Gabby Glaser were raised on a combination of punk, new wave, reggae and hip hop at New York City clubs like Danceteria and Tier 3 in the early '80s. Kate, who was the Beastie Boys' first drummer at age 15, recalls the formative club days: "Jill, Gabby and I met hanging out in New York, going to see bands like the Bad Brains and the Stimulators. Jill and I had fanzines-mine was called Cheap Garbage for Snotty Teens-and Jill interviewed the Beastie Boys for her fanzine, Decline of Art. " Jill continues, "Our sound is still a cross-section of a lot of the bands we'd go to see back then: the Slits, Funk Four Plus One, Black Uhuru, Sam and Dave on New Year's Eve three years in a row. Eventually all of our friends picked up an instrument and started their own bands. It was a totally do-it-yourself scene. It gave us snotty teens an outlet'

"When we started hanging out together," Kate remembers, "we saw a lot of great bands, but we also dug early hip hop. 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. 'Me cool kids in high school were into hip hop, and we'd learn all the rhymes. 'Mere was great dancing, and graffiti art. It was very New York."

Vivian Trimble came into the picture in 1992, having met Jill while the two were teaching in an adult education program. Viv's experience choreographing and composing music for dance added yet another flavor to Kate, Jill and Gabby's collective palette and Luscious Jackson was born. Considering the diversity of tastes involved, it's hardly surprising that sampling would provide the foundation for Luscious' 1992 debut, the legendary In Search of Manny EP. The first release on their old friends the Beastie Boys' Grand Royal Records, ..Manny is described by Gabby as "pure experimental fun. At least, that's what it was for me: putting together a combination of samples, playing live instruments over loops and recording sounds off the streets, whatever we could find to add to the stew. By the second record all four of us had been playing together as a band and as a result we had more live songs on the record."

Luscious Jackson's first full-length album, Natural Ingredients, dropped in 1994, and gradually spread the foursome's distinctive downtown Manhattan vibe on a global scale. Video and radio peeps went wild for Natural.. singles "City Song" and "Here" (the latter was also a highlight of the original motion picture soundtrack to the mega-hit movie Clueless) as the ladies hit the bricks non-stop, supporting the Beastie Boys in Europe, playing the aforementioned R.E.M. enormo-dome gigs and headlining shows, and just generally rocking out (if you will).

Fever In Fever Out's release comes widely and eagerly anticipated. However, Luscious Jackson's growing popularity has apparently been accompanied by an 'insidious scheme to paint the ladies as "leaders of the next generation of women 'in rock" (or some such drivel/hype). True, the band's impact has had a ripple effect on a generation of young female admirers and imitators, but as Jill is quick to note, "At this point, gender is incidental. We have male and female fans.And hopefully we've answered the question '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."

P.S. Lucious Jackson played pro basketball for the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1960's. His nickname was "Luscious" Jackson. That's where the band got its name. Now you'll never have to ask them again.

LUSCIOUS JACKSON DISCOGRAPHY

1996 Fever In Fever Out
Grand Royal Records/Capitol

1994 Natural Ingredients
Grand Royal Records/Capitol

1992 In Search of Manny
Grand Royal Records

SPECIAL RECORDINGS

1996 Rock For Choice Christmas Record
Queen of Bliss
(Scheduled for Christmas Release)

1996 Girlstown Soundtrack
Mercury Records
Strong Man

1995 Ain't Nuthin' But A She Thing
London Records
69 Annee Erotique

1995 Clueless Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Capitol Records
Here

Press Contact: Shelby Meade @ Nasty Little Man
(212) 343-2314 (phone)
(212) 343-0196 (fax)