When The Lickerish Quartet made their first appearance in the spring of 2020, power pop fans around the world rejoiced. Not only because this new band had tapped into some brilliant and shiny pop sounds worthy of 10cc and their ilk, but rather more specifically because The Lickerish Quartet reunited the much-celebrated trio of Roger Joseph Manning Jr., Tim Smith and Eric Dover – all of whom had previous connections with 90s scene makers Jellyfish.

Their debut EP, ‘Threesome, Vol. 1’ brought out the best in their combined talents. There were the obvious nods to their Jellyfish and Imperial Drag pasts throughout, but with a little less bombast, the release offered a selection of timeless pop. Its best track, ‘Bluebird’s Blues’, sounded rather like Crowded House with its semi-acoustic backbone and rich harmonies, suggesting that Tim Smith and Lickerish Quartet drummer Jeremy Stacey had absorbed a little of their influence while working with The Finn Brothers in 2005. It wasn’t Jellyfish, but very little is – nor was it ever intended to be – but as a selection of retro pop tunes in its own right, it really worked.

This much anticipated return begins as somewhat of a disappointment. As sci-fi styled keyboards emerge from the speakers, you’d be forgiven for hoping the opening track ‘Do You Feel Better?’ would be a huge pop epic, chucking in everything but the kitchen sink in the manner of ‘Spilt Milk’ era Jellyfish and ‘How Dare You!’ era 10cc. What follows is a rather bland pop tune – or so it seems on the surface – where strumming acoustic guitars meet the kind of thumping, 4/4 rhythm that could’ve easily been driven by a programmed drum. The tempo, the fairly nonchalant approach to a memorable hook, even the vocal, suggests talented musicians phoning in an old Squeeze performance. Even a few stabbing keys on a pre-chorus designed to lift…don’t. …And then something unexpected happens. Somewhere around the mid-point, a twist into a melody that sounds like Jellyfish channelling Crowded House ushers in some bigger harmonies, before a fine – if brief – guitar sting facilitates a further twist into tinkling bells and phased keys and voices. When the Quartet finally find their feet here, there’s even time for a few bars of pop that are of the purest Jellyfish vintage, something augmented by carny-esque keys to celebrate their arrival. It’s a huge leap from the bland strumming from a couple of minutes earlier. It’s actually one of those tunes that needs time to grow; not just on first hearing, but even on subsequent spins. Further listens expose a lot of underlying interest that’s easily missed on first play, from Smith’s bending bass to a few subtle vocal inflections that hint that the performers’ love of 10cc is constantly bubbling beneath the surface; it’s all just waiting for that optimum moment to wow the listener…which, of course, it eventually does.

For those looking for instant gratification, ‘Sovrienty Blues’ is far more of a straight up power pop banger, where stomping rhythms collide with heavily filtered voices and buoyant McCartney-esque basslines. It’s a number where the music is set to win you over in a heartbeat; chiming guitars are overlaid by multi-tracked harmonies straight from Jellyfish’s ‘Bellybutton’ and the joyous feel of the hook is matched only by the deep beats and bells that fill the middle eight which, in turn, wastes no time in harking back to Manning’s fixation with ELO and Graham Gouldman. Echoing ‘The Ghost At Number One’ throughout – including Stacey’s deliberate mimicking of the much-missed Andy Sturmer’s drum fills – this is the greatest Jellyfish track that never was. A recording that captures every bit of the collected musicians’ talents, this has all the potential to become one of the biggest and best loved power pop tracks ever.

In another sharp change of mood, ‘The Dream That Took Me Over’ shows how well the musicians handle light pop with an almost synth pop/new wave edge – surely something you’d never have associated with these guys previously. Here, the basic melodic structure of the vocal hook far outshines any need for musical flashiness, and in terms of presenting The Lickerish Quartet at their most frivolous, it’s possibly even a track that could win new fans. For anyone concerned that it’s a step too far outside of a musical comfort zone, the bass line borrows heavily from something more familiar: it’s a dead ringer in places for Roxy’s ‘Love Is The Drug’, something that constantly reminds us of Manning and Smith’s magpie tendencies. As always, of course, their own spin is applied throughout, and the performance is great. For something so “unlike Jellyfish” it’s incredibly natural, and if you don’t particularly like the song, you can always spend the four minutes marvelling at Smith’s upfront bass work. An unexpected side step, indeed, but it’s still great pop – and that’s something these guys have always aimed for, no matter what the subgenre. As different again, the EP’s lead single ‘Snollygoster Goon’ shows off the band’s crashier side on a tune that mixes Imperial Drag’s glammier aspects with a punked up power pop riff. Very much a high octane rocker driven by massive guitars throughout, there’s more in common with Redd Kross and the noisier end of Matthew Sweet’s output than any Jellyfish sounds from 1991, but it’s great to hear the musicians branching out even further. It takes a couple of plays before its brilliance can be confirmed (especially if you’re approaching this release expecting tunes that sound more like the Quartet’s ‘Lighthouse Spaceship’) but the full on approach never sounds forced in any way. Proof that power pop doesn’t always have to have its heart stuck in the glory days of 1975-81, Eric Dover’s most aggressive guitar licks have a great sound. The best advice is to crank the volume and let yourselves go…

Whereas Imperial Drag and Manning’s solo projects often seemed to shy away from Jellyfish’s cult legacy and were keen to make a mark on their own merits, this EP trumpets Manning/Smith’s early 90s brilliance throughout. From various tightly wound harmonies call back to the likes of ‘Joining A Fan Club’ and ‘Bye Bye Bye’, to the heavy rumpty tumpty rhythms that underpin the finest 70s homages, this disc takes the sounds laid out on the previous release and improves on them at almost every turn. For lovers of the style, ‘Vol. 2’ is a genuine treat; from somewhere around the third or fourth play, it’s obvious that this EP has all the makings of a pop-rock classic.

January 2021