This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at for further information. JACKSON: (Singing) Do it 'til you're satisfied.Ĭopyright © 2013 NPR. "Are You Ready" from Luscious Jackson's new album "Magic Hour," the song of the week from NPR music writer and editor Stephen Thompson. So at its heart it's just a big, happy, playful pop song, and I've always got room for more of those. Mercury Rev have unveiled a visually arresting video to Are You Ready from the upcoming ‘The Light In You’ album. And it's got this universal message about getting together and having a good time, and it could have come out of just about any modern era in music. It really, it takes me back to the era when I first heard the band. But part of what I love about "Are You Ready" in particular is that it sounds exactly like the band I remember.Īnd you could take that as a criticism, you know, they haven't evolved over time, but I just love the fizzy timelessness of the song. One of the original members, Vivian Trimble on keyboards, has left the group. THOMPSON: Well, like all of us, the band is 14 years older than they were the last time they put out a record, and some of the songs on the new album are a little bit more reflective. YOUNG: What do you think? Has the sound changed, maybe better with time? What do you think? LUSCIOUS JACKSON: (Singing) (Unintelligible). So let's hear a little bit of one of the tremendous little party anthems on the band's new album, "Magic Hour." This song is called "Are You Ready." The women regrouped to record a children’s album in 2007, but. And like a lot of those bands, Luscious Jackson has come back after this long absence with the same fire and energy and overall sound that it had when it left. One of its songs, Naked Eye, grazed the Top 40 in 1996 after releasing its third album in 1999, Luscious Jackson disbanded. It's kind of one of the stories of the year in music, where you have all these long-dormant bands like My Bloody Valentine all popping up out of the blue.
So this has been an amazing year for musicians coming back after long absences. They spent the '90s as a kind of all-female counterpart to the Beastie Boys, who actually put out Luscious Jackson's records on their label back in those days. STEPHEN THOMPSON, BYLINE: All right, I've got a song called "Are You Ready" from a band that's just now coming back from a 14-year hiatus. Luscious Jackson is an actress and composer, known for Good Will Hunting (1997). Meanwhile, today is Monday, a new week, new month, new season, fall, and NPR music writer and editor Stephen Thompson is here with a new song. Luscious Jackson, Soundtrack: Good Will Hunting.