Kevin Bronson on March 13th, 2020

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A few months ago, in a casual conversation with a member of the band, Buzz Bands LA broached the topic of a Jellyfish reunion — because, after all, this summer marks the 30th anniversary of the band’s brilliant debut album “Bellybutton.” The suggestion was met with a spate of good-natured, “hell-will-hafta-freeze-over” laughter. Apparently, old wounds are not likely to heal.

Today, though, brings the first single from the Lickerish Quartet — the new band featuring Jellyfish founding member and keyboardist extraordinaire Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (Beck, Air, Cheap Trick, Imperial Drag) and two guys who played in the Album 2 incarnation of Jellyfish, Tim Smith (Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, The Finn Brothers, Sheryl Crow, Umajets) and Eric Dover (Imperial Drag, Slash’s Snakepit, Alice Cooper, Sextus).

The 6 1/2-minute “Lighthouse Spaceship” will not disappoint any power-pop geeks … er, aficionados who long for pop songs with crisp guitar-keyboard-vocal interplay topped by harmonies reminiscent of ELO or Queen. The song is like a laser-guided extraterrestrial object that only visits Earth every quarter-century.

The trio first rekindled their creative spark in 2017. “While touring with Jellyfish, it was pretty clear to me that both Eric and Tim had plenty to say as writers in their own right,” Manning says. “All these years later, it was like picking up where we left off in many ways. Ultimately, the songs go on their own journeys, but I also think our collective vocal sound puts a stamp on all of them, no matter who’s singing lead. That’s what really joins it all together.”

Adds Smith: “It’s a good feeling knowing we found a way to blend together again as the three of us, and then find new ways to explore our ideas. I think all the songs we did make something magical out of the mundane aspects of daily life.”

||| Stream: “Lighthouse Spaceship”