photo: St. Eris Media
When it was announced in 2020 that the new rock trio The Lickerish Quartet would release a four-song EP later that year and follow it up later with two more four-song EP’s, at became apparent that Roger Joseph Manning Jr., Eric Dover and Tim Smith had made a twelve-track album that they divvied up into three separate releases in order to spread out the interest over a longer period of time.
That’s not too dissimilar from the tactic used by addictive tv dramas like Ozark and Better Call Saul, whereby their final seasons were divvied up into two “mini” seasons so you had to wait a few months after getting your appetite whetted from the first half of the season before you’re allowed to watch the final episodes. It’s a gimmick, but it works if the content is compelling.
The Lickerish Quartet’s content is compelling, so yeah, it’s easier to go along with their three-part play. Threesome Vol. 3 (May 20, 2022, Stranger Danger Records and Tapes) is the final part of their Threesome trilogy and now two years since the first morsels were released, it’s finally upon us.
By now we know just what to expect from Manning, Dover & Smith, and they set the bar high for themselves. Melodic designs that are designed complex but come off catchy and frictionless, rich harmonies and no-frills, meticulous production values that pass the headphones test.
“Fortunately” is a cheery, mid-tempo number with Smith handling the bulk of the lead vocals and Manning taking over on the bridge. Ah yes, the lost art of constructing a meaningful bridge is still practiced with care by The Lickerish Quartet and that 70s feeling is underscored by Dover’s George Harrison slide. This and the other tunes settle on spiritual themes, lyrically broad enough that any listener can come away with their own meaning that relates to themselves.
Sunny, sixties pop from the Beatles to the Byrds to the Beach Boys and more are finely distilled into the Manning-sung “New Days,” where the production oscillates impactfully between basically archaic and lushly modern, all anchored so nimbly by Smith’s rubbery bass.
The inventiveness in the arrangements is another ingredient in TLQ’s secret sauce; strings are deployed for all the tracks except for “New Days,” but smartly so. It certainly doesn’t in way of a good guitar/bass syncopated groove on Dover’s lead vocal feature “You All Alone.” All the odd and changing time signatures on “In The Meantime” — with Tim Smith again handling the lead voice — never trips the song’s soulful stride and its Badfinger vibe.
With all of three volumes from Threesome now presented to the world, The Lickerish Quartet’s introduction is now complete and my main takeaways are:
1. They didn’t put their best material up front or save it for last, because it’s all killer & no filler.
2. They evoke a lot of rock music characteristics from the Boomer/Gen X eras but none more so than an obsessive attention to detail in their songwriting, production and musicianship.
3. I still miss Andy Sturmer. But only a little bit.
Pre-add/add Threesome Vol. 3 here.
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