Baby’s Coming Back
At the very beginning of 2017, Roger Manning Jr had an attack of nostalgia. The multi-instrumentalist and singer who co-founded cult power pop deities Jellyfish just over three decades earlier was listening to Demolition, the 1997 debut album from former Jellyfish bassist Tim Smith’s band Umajets, when the past suddenly hit him like a wave.
“Eric [Dover, ex-Jellyfish touring guitarist] and I played on it briefly, and I was getting teary-eyed for that very brief window of collaboration,” says Manning Jr. “Like, ‘Goddammit, 20 years just went by and we never did anything else together.’”
Three years later, Manning Jr has finally rectified that situation. He, Smith and Dover are about to release Threesome, Vol 1, the nudge-nudge-wink-winkingly titled debut EP from their new band The Lickerish Quartet.
It’s the first time the trio have worked, and there’s a clear line between the EP’s four tracks and their illustrious former band’s solid gold musical magic and grand vision.
