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* ♦ The Red and Black » Wednesday, March 3. 1993
SOUND
‘Jellyfish’ quivers psychedelically
■ ALBUM REVIEW
By MARK HODGES
Staff Writer
Jellyfish Spltt Milk (Charisma)
If history repeats itself, then
one day there may be a band that
will emulate Jellyfish and sound
just like them. Of course, that
band will also sound like a hell of
a lot of other bands that came
way before Jellyfish.
Their first album, 1990’s
“Bellybutton,” got them national
attention and a short-term stint
on MTV with their colorful cos
tuming. That got the band a
taste of success, and now they
are back for more on their sopho
more effort, “Spilt Milk.”
This gelatinous group has
managed to mold itself into an
aural history display. Their mu
sic reminds the listener of past
influences. It’s like they’re ask
ing if you like the Beatles,
Queen, Herman’s Hermits, the
Cowsills, the Turtles or any oth
er bands that could pass for
Jellyfish in a weird time warp.
Jellyfish has no shame in
evoking the hippie-shake
sychedelic spirit that should
ave been left alone a long time
ago. But, as stupid as it all may
seem, the spineless sea creatures
of Jellyfish are pretty damn good
at it.
First of all, go ahead and skip
over the two minute album intro,
“Hush.” It has a nice harmony
but no point. The track that
strikes attention immediately af
ter is the Queen-like epic
“Joining a Fan Club,” which is a
celebration of the act of sending
10 bucks to your favorite band
for a glossy eight-by-ten photo.
Apparently the band members
joined the Freddie
Mercury/Brian May fan club and
became the ruling administra
tion. This song is like clockwork,
it’s so predictable.
Wrap every Queen schmaltz-
song into one smooth package,
throw in a McCartney sing-along
harmony and there you have it.
And, yet, it’s still good, no matter
how hard you try to push it out
of your mind. I have no explana
tion. The song is just too catchy
to ignore.
“Sabrina, Paste and Plato"
doesn’t work so well. This is such
Ringo-cheese, and it sounds like
vocalist Andy Sturmer is saying
“submarine” when he sings “so
serene.” No thanks. The song
“New Mistake” fares better with
an early Elton John sound and a
chorus that keeps on chugging.
Man, originality is non-existent
around here, unless you consider
imitation to hold some grand
merit.
Many of the tracks are some
what forgettable: the accordion
laden “Bye, Bye, Bye," the boring
“The Ghost at Number One.” The
list goes on. “He’s My Best
Friend” is an exception, with a
memorable groove with what
sounds like a clarinet floating on
top. Well, maybe it’s a synth, but
either way it’s cool. This one al
most breaks away from the retro
disease, and it sounds a heck of a
lot fresher because of it.
The biggest difference be
tween “Spilt Milk” and its prede
cessor is that while “Bellybutton”
simply exhibited influences, the
new album depends on them.
That can lead to certain death if
Jellyfish is not careful.
That is, unless the younger
fans aren’t familiar enough with
the early influences to make the
connection. It could happen. I
just hate to see such a talented
band fail to look ahead just to
constantly look backwards.
Archer sings sweetly on ‘Sleeping Satellite’
■ BEST BET
Television, reunited and revved to rock, returns to The 40 Watt
tonight to show that New York art rock is still alive and well in
America. Tickets are $7 and who knows? Maybe David Byrne
will show up. This, however, I seriously doubt. (Why'd I say it?)
Luscious Jackson: Wow! Hot 'goils,' and on a subway no less. How seductively urban.
These female rappers just released the musical version of 'They Saved Hitler's Brain.'
It’s music so lousy it's actually fun. You can dance and laugh at the very same time.
■ ALBUM REVIEW
By GRANT GOGGANS
Slaff Writer
Tasmin Arch«r Sleeping Satellite EP
(EMI)
Luscious Jackson In Search of
Manny EP (Grand Royal)
Recently released are two whol
ly disparate sounding debut al
bums from female artists, one
showing promise of a great career
as one of the first great soul singers
of the ’90s, the other showing
promise of fun at parties.
Tasmin Archer is currently
quite big in her native England.
She was nominated for best British
newcomer at the BPI awards, the
U.K. version of the Grammies, and
her excellent four-song EP has al
ready made number one there.
It was in the top ten for all of
1992. Cut from the same cloth as
other fine British soul singers as
Joyce Sims and Mica Paris, she has
an rich, full voice that conveys the
emotion of her songs to great de
grees.
“Sleeping Satellite” is the lead
song on the EP, with a daring vo
cal and a superb piano backing (no
credits, sadly). There’s also an ex
tended version and two other
acoustic tracks.
The production, by big names
Julian Mendelsohn and Wix
(moonlighting from Paul
McCartney’s band) is seamless.
The only complaint I can levy is
that the cover photo is terrible, and
makes Tasmin look just like Tanita
Tikeram with darker skin.
Luscious Jackson is a different
kettle of fish entirely.
This has got to be some unfath
omable practical joke that is hard
to understand. Not that I think
that white girls can’t or shouldn’t
rap, but maybe if the results are
anything like this they might seri
ously reconsider.
“In Search of Manny” is a real
hoot, sort of a “They Saved Hitler’s
Brain” of the music world.
This is so lousy that it’s actual
ly quite fun.
Comprising five songs with ti
tles like “Let Yourself Get Down,”
“Keep On Rockin’ It" and “She Be
Wantin’ It,” and coming off like a
effort to reintroduce Icy Blu to the
charts, Luscious Jackson (they got
their name from an unfortunate
misspelling of basketball’s Lucious
Jackson) will either have you in
stitches laughing or dancing until
you drop.
To their eternal credit, the girls
do not take any of their silly lyrics
or their “lazy bluesy hip hop” at all
seriously.
Even the press kit refers to
them, individually, like stars of an
old children’s action show. “Kate -
a saucy hard hitting spitfire,” it
blares.
They also freely admit to all be
ing Scott Baio fans at one time.
Dangerous girls, these. As for the
sound, well, if you’ll just imagine
Stacey Q fronting Vanilla Ice’s
“band,” you’ll have a pretty good
idea of what this is like.
It is outrageously awful, and I
say that with the highest possible
recommendation. Lovers of camp
and cheese need look no further.
We can only hope these girls’ll
go on the road for a stupendous
tour of every giant shopping mall
in this the United States of
America. Until then, just go ahead
and “Let Yourself Get Down.”
MMiliiil
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