Luscious Jackson - Electric Honey (1999)

Reversing course from the kaleidoscopic pop of Fever in Fever Out, Electric
Honey finds Luscious Jackson narrowing their focus, concentrating more on
groove and texture than full-fledged songs. This isn't necessarily a bad
thing, since their albums always had strong rhythm, but Electric Honey
tends to float away. Somewhere along the way, Luscious Jackson smoothed out
all their quirks and grit, shaping their sound into an appealingly funky,
multilayered, post-alternative pop groove. On the surface, or as background
music, it's quite pleasing, but it's never really compelling, especially
since many of the songs are never really about anything -- which is
especially frustrating since the opening pair of "Nervous Breakthrough" and
"Ladyfingers" are terrific continuations of Fever In. After that opening,
Electric Honey doesn't begin to unravel as much as it settles into its own
mire, recycling sounds familiar from its two predecessors, while offering
slight songs about "Summer Daze," "Sexy Hypnotist"s, "Friends," "Alien
Lover"s, and "Space Diva"s. The fluffiness of the songs wouldn't matter if
each song had its own distinct feel. Instead, the entire album is
variations on a groove -- breezy and enjoyable, to be sure, but
nevertheless a little too lightweight to really take hold. Lightweight
songwriting also suggests that Luscious Jackson may be running out of
ideas, and it's hard to shake the impression that no matter how enjoyable
certain parts of Electric Honey are, it finds the band treading water, not
breaking new ground.