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Newland+ [Release date: 30.09.22]
This boxset of 7×7” Jellyfish singles is truly a step back in time to when vinyl was king. An A side and a B side. On the A side was the song the label wanted radio to play. The B side was often the one the fans fell in love with (in the safety of their own homes, of course).
Founded by Andy Sturmer and Roger Manning, this was a band with a story, one that’s been well documented online. These singles were the backbone of the band’s two albums, Bellybutton, 1990 and Spilt Milk, three years later.
Like the great bands they emulate – most obviously Queen and the Beatles, less obviously The Turtles, The Association, The Beach Boys, The 5th Dimension – Jellyfish had an expert way with a harmony.
The title of the first single, ‘The King Is Half Undressed’ – a lavish, eminently melodic, mini pop symphony – now seems like a banner headline. Even music fans who’ve only ever had minimal contact with Powerpop in the nineties will know the song. The vocals – the soloing and harmonising – come in rich layers of sound that sometimes seem to float past, and at other times dig in deep, staking out their own sizeable chunk of sensory overload.
It’s bright and it’s brash. The voices and the theatrical guitar bass and drum orchestration play to the past without sounding cliched or derivative. Just listen to The 5th Dimension’s ‘Paper Cup’. You can see where the inspiration comes from.
For a moment or two it drifts off into the sighing harmonies and twinkling guitars of Brian Wilson land, then reluctantly, it comes back.
There’s always more than meets the eye. It’s a genuine joy going back and finding something new each time.
The B side, or what cool people referred to as the “flipside”, ‘Calling Sarah’ has a little bit Brit in its DNA – in the guitars, in the Squeeze like vocal phrasing. A little bit of soul too… and a little bit of drama.
These two songs form the first single in the set.
There’s little to choose between the other 6 singles.
‘Baby’s Coming Back’ was subsequently covered by McFly in the UK and became a number one hit. It is a bright and breezy snapshot of Jellyfish’s slightly more streamlined sound, clearly plugged into the history of the genre, with a calliope thrown in for fun.
The softly swaying ‘Bedspring Kiss’ is framed in the kind of lush pop pallete that we would expect from a solo McCartney, and ‘I Wanna Stay Home’ reaches for the personal, with a haunting, yearning vocal leaning into a ticking clock and distant trumpet echoes.
‘The Ghost At Number One’ and ‘New Mistake’ were the singles released from the band’s second (and last) album, ‘Spilt Milk’. Each deploy memorable melodies and complex, cascading arrangements with absolute precision. Alby Galuten and Jack Joseph Puig had produced Bellybutton. Manning and Sturmer co-produced on Spilt Milk, utilising what they’d learned from the debut experience.
And . . . there’s a cover of Wings’ ‘Jet’ and Badfinger’s ‘No Matter What’, just in case we haven’t been getting the message.
After ‘Spilt Milk’, the band splintered into many parts. With various members forming Imperial Drag and The Grays, writing music for Disney, writing music for Japanese Anime, and latterly, the Lickerish Quartet (Roger Manning, Eric Dover and Tim Smith). All have their roots in Jellyfish. Quite a legacy. *****
Review by Brian McGowan
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