"This is probably our favorite club on the whole tour," Luscious Jackson singer-bassist Jill Cunniff said as her band and the crowd warmed to each other. The band expressed its love for Athens several other times during the show -- they plugged a local vegetarian restaurant and keyboardist Vivian Trimble joked about relocating -- but by the end of the night, the audience seemed numbed by it all.

Most people assume Luscious Jackson is a true ensemble, but Cuniff's looping bass lines provide the glue that holds the group's sound together -- even when the other instruments aren't doing anything interesting. Gabby Glaser's guitar work and Vivian Trimble's keyboard playing seemed almost like afterthoughts, but the addition of another player on various other instruments (percussion, additional guitar and bass) helped to fill out the band's surprisingly sparse sound.

Comments about Athens aside, Luscious Jackson is generally less intent on hyping up the crowd than sustaining a "Shaft"-style groove of lounge-funk. The problem is that the band sustained that mood for too long; only about five songs actually rocked. A major drawback of having DJ Alex spin between songs was that his beats were far funkier (not to mention more solid) than those delivered by Kate Schellenbach on drums.

The show worked best when the band deviated from its usual groove. "Faith" and "Find Your Mind" broke from Jackson's formula drastically enough to distinguish themselves, and "Naked Eye" charged up the crowd.

Still, Luscious Jackson has never really lived up to its promise. An all-female