Of all the records in my collection, I am probably the most surprised by the value of this long out-of-print Jellyfish record on Charisma. As far as I can tell it came out only the UK, and my guess is it didn’t sell too well upon its release. I found it for 50-cents in a bin outside of Bleeker Bob’s. The last two copies on eBay sold for $99.99 and $110.27. Weird, right? My purchase was right around the time I started collecting records (in 2003), and it was something of a tongue-in-cheek purchase. I still remember laughing about it with Sam and Lindsey at the time. “Remember this fucking record!” I probably said, chuckling. Eight years later I’m constantly defending my love of Jellyfish to non-believers.
Although I disagree, my good friend Andy Zax believes Spilt Milk to be the superior Jellyfish album. I can see why, the production and pop melodies are top-notch. I think I just have more fond memories tied to Bellybutton, my Jellyfish album of choice. On Spilt Milk the Queen-isms that are slightly more subliminal on Bellybutton are now unabashedly brought to the forefront. The first two songs in particular, “Hush” and “Joining A Fan Club” have backing vocals that wouldn’t sound at all out of place on A Night At The Opera. The most Bellybutton-sounding tune is the obvious “Bye Bye Bye,” which was actually recorded for that album but instead is included here. It should come as no surprise that it’s one of my favorite songs on this record.
I can’t keep sitting here wasting words trying to convince you to hop aboard the Jellyfish bandwagon. Maybe you’re comfortable with your Teenage Fanclub or your beat up copy of Pinkerton, and you’re not quite ready to make the leap to giving Jellyfish a chance. I can’t argue with you. There’s a lot of shitty power pop out there that I wouldn’t dare listen to. But Jellyfish is different! Give it a shot! You’ll thank me afterwards.
Jellyfish
Spilt Milk
(Charisma, 1993)
MediaFire DL Link
01. Hush
02. Joining A Fan Club
03. Sebrina, Paste And Plato
04. New Mistake
05. Glutton Of Sympathy
06. The Ghost At Number One
07. Bye Bye Bye
08. All Is Forgiven
09. Russian Hill
10. He’s My Best Friend
11. Too Much, Too Little, Too Late
12. Brighter Day
