Hey Hey My My Yo Yo It's Luscious Jackson

Luscious Jackson - Greatest Hits
Ah, the ‘best of’ or ‘greatest hits’ album – fleecing fans with a few remixes and rarities, or offering an introduction to that band you always liked but not enough to buy the album? This example of the genre will hopefully bring more listeners to the group that inspired the Beastie Boys to found the Grand Royal record label. Yes that’s right, Luscious Jackson’s In Search of Manny EP was Grand Royal #1 back in 1992.

According to Beastie Boy Mike D’s liner notes, the Luscious Jackson girls – Jill, Gabby and Kate – were one step up the ‘smarter-than-thou, young NYC teenage punk know-it-all’ food chain from the boys who became beastly. The girls had a fanzine that served as a entry into gigs and interviews with the bands, and were always able to fake the night’s entry stamp or rush a back stage entrance when that failed. As musicians they had friends in high places and when a demo tape made by Jill Cunniff and Gabby Glaser became a tour-bus staple on the Beasties Check Your Head tour they soon found themselves with a record deal. They soon added former Beasties drummer Kate Schellenbach, and shortly after the release of their debut EP filled out their sound with the addition of Vivian Trimble on keys.

Click here to read the full review

Junior Senior - Hey Hey My My Yo Yo
Half Junior/half Senior, half gay/half straight, half shaven/half mustachioed, all Danish popsters who demanded that you ‘Move Your Feet’ return with the stutteringly titled Hey Hey My My Yo Yo. A title that serves as an excellent litmus test of your appreciation of the record. If it sounds childish, simple and a little too much fun for your days of po-faced seriousness, then Junior Senior ain’t for you. However, if you’ve ever slid across the floor boards in imitation of Tom Cruise’s glory days, then this album will induce inane grinning and quickly become your new guilty pleasure.

Like the Go!Team, Junior Senior realise that the one of the most important element of popular dance music – be it 60s Motown, 80s new-wave, early hip-hop or even cheerleading – is the handclap. And the three minute running time. Perhaps one reason for the short songs is to give their hands time to recover – a full live Junior Senior show must result in hands swollenly clapped to novelty sizes. There’s a definite novelty streak to this album, with the lyrics tending to the most ludicrous of catchy rhymes and giddy, cheeky vocals.

Click here to read the full review