feature photo: Jay Gilbert
When Tim Smith (bass), Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. (keyboards) and Eric Dover (guitar) convened after a twenty-year period apart to knock around new tunes together, it led to the kind of musical partnership that’s been a godsend for fans of well-crafted melodic rock. The Lickerish Quartet finished a dozen songs but decided to release them in three, EP-sized batches. The first four songs came out in May, 2020 and Threesome Vol. 1 is full of smarts, wit and arrangements that often reached toward heights rarely seen in rock since the days of Queen, ELO and Todd Rundgren. Or, for that matter, The Lickerish Quartet’s direct ancestor Jellyfish.
The first part of the trifecta was so good, it only whetted my appetite for Part 2. Now that Threesome Vol. 2 is out, it’s clear that TLQ didn’t front-load their release schedule with killer and follow it up with filler, because the high quality remains steady in all four of these songs.
Even from the intro, “Do You Feel Better” feels like a Tim Smith song; that relaxed, narcotic vibe that defines “There’s a Magic Number” is also found here, a George Harrison-brand psychedelic number, drenched with swooping strings, rich harmonies and crisp edits. Manning, who once collaborated with Brian Wilson, brings his sunny pop disposition to “Sovereignty Blues,” a song that straddles the zeitgeists of Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper.
But enough of the Beatles references. The Lickerish Quartet distills a lot more influences than just the Fab Four. Maybe a lot of rock bands do, but these guys have a knack to pick out the best bits of each and absorb them in all the right doses.
Dover’s limited role as a lead vocalist on Vol. 1 is compensated by him taking the helm over the last half of Vol. 2. “The Dream That Took Me Over” rides on a brawny disco beat and Smith’s taut bass lines; shimmering, pop-rock not far removed from what Dover and Manning were doing in Imperial Drag. The extended player ends with the riotous “Snollygoster Goon,” power pop with a punk attitude that we first sized up as the advance single.
Threesome Vol. 1 gets a slight nod over Threesome Vol. 2 for now, but Manning, Dover and Smith have a way of crafting songs that burrow deeper into your listening pleasure zone with each listen. Ask me again a little later and I could very well swap the ranking. In any case, Threesome Vol. 3 should be just as highly anticipated as Threesome Vol. 2 had been.
Threesome Vol. 2 dropped on January 8, 2021, available via Stranger Danger Records and Tapes. Pick it up from here.
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