What could be more interesting than a band of girls coming together to create truly exhilarating and infectious music? Luscious Jackson is just that. An exciting band of New York girls who gained acceptance thanks at least in part to their long standing ties with the Beastie Boys.

Fortunately, Luscious Jackson has the talent to back up the hype. Normally, their music doesn’t make it far past college radio stations. But, a few years ago the entire country got a sample of their music. 1996 marked the year that Luscious Jackson briefly went mainstream. Their amazing single (yes, I just called it amazing) ”Naked Eye” from their third full-length album Fever In Fever Out proved to be radio ready to say the very least.

”Naked Eye” was never what could be called a huge hit. Although, for a band that is so alternative and blends so many different elements, the single significantly expanded their fan base. The girls, Jill Cunniff (vocals, guitar, bass); Gabrielle Glaser (vocals, guitar, drum programming); Vivian Trimble (vocals, piano, organ, keyboards); and Kate Schellenbach (drums) finally found that they were being rewarded for their years work in the music industry.

The single for ”Naked Eye” was released on Grand Royal and featured three versions of the track.

1. Naked Eye (radio edit) 4:10
2. Naked Eye (totally nude mix) 5:12
3. Naked Eye (Suntan Knee-Hi mix, instrumental) 4:38

The radio edit version of the track fades in. The song then breaks into the groovy, electronica sound that Luscious Jackson is best known for. The beat is heavy and the sound is absolutely amazing. The vocals range from a low spoken word to the melodic chorus. The lyrics are exceptionally simple to understand. It’s impossible to sit still when this one comes over the stereo. Here’s the chorus that’s common throughout all of these versions:
With my naked eye
I saw all the falling rain
Coming down on me
With my naked eye
I saw all if I said it all
I could see

The totally nude mix of this song is even groovier than the original. It’s got a sneakier instrumentation that leads the song to be a bit mysterious. The vocals are a bit more delicate and the focus is more on the drums (and drum machine) rather than the voices. I quite honestly love this track…almost as much as the original. It’s great…don’t miss out just because the other one is the more popular radio version.

The third version of the song on this single is the Suntan Knee-Hi Mix. It’s actually a completely instrumental version of the track. The good this about this is that you can listen to the actual sound of the song more in depth than you can with the versions that also have vocals. The song in this case actually is very different. It’s a bit slower and a bit more methodical. I think it actually was put together with more focus on sounds than were the other mixes. That aside, it’s actually a bit boring because the tempo of any of the versions of the actual song is rather slow. It’s only of interest to people that enjoy the other mixes.

It’s obvious that I’m very partial to this song. It’s a hip, happy, ridiculously infectious track. Everybody should know it. Although, if you are a fan of guitar heavy tracks this single isn’t for you. If you like groovy, alternative works this track could definitely appeal to you. I give this single a strong 4/5 stars. What a great piece of music!


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