Copyright 1990 The Times Mirror Company   
Los Angeles Times
October 25, 1990, Thursday, Ventura County Edition
SECTION: Ventura County Life; Part J; Page 14; Column 1
LENGTH: 555 words
HEADLINE: MUSIC: JELLYFISH; SET ADRIFT; A BAY AREA QUARTET WITH A
SINGING DRUMMER HASN'T LEARNED THAT BELL-BOTTOMS ARE OUT OF STYLE.
BYLINE: By BILL LOCEY
BODY:

     Jellyfish -- that swimming gelatin dessert from hell that
stings like the whip of Indiana Jones, thus messing up an otherwise
idyllic day at the beach --
right?
     Sure, but Jellyfish is also this week's happening band you've
never heard of. The Bay Area quartet will make its local debut at
The Pub Saturday night on the campus of UC Santa Barbara.  
     The band, looking like flower children 21 years too late for
Woodstock, is on tour in a thinly veiled effort to sell copies of
its debut album, "Bellybutton."
     And so much for objectivity: It may just be the album of the
year -- great vocals and witty lyrics. What else is there? The
vocals are reminiscent of and as good as the Beatles, Shoes, Queen,
XTC and others for whom neatness counts.
     The band has been together for a year or so and has a video --
"The King Is Half-Undressed" -- on MTV.
     "We started doing demos on a home tape recorder about a year
ago," said singer/songwriter Andy Sturmer in a recent telephone
interview. "We shopped our tape around, and by some computer
malfunction, a lot of companies wanted to sign us. We played the
fir
st time after the album was released and recently completed a tour
opening for World Party. The current tour will be our own."
     Jellyfish has been around long enough, however, to have been
someone else. Half of Jellyfish was in Beatnik Beatch, who once
opened for Bananarama, whose music resembles the soundtrack for a
Bubblicious ad.
     "It was just we were really unhappy and wanted to do Jellyfish
more," Sturmer said. "Roger (Manning) and I were writing Jellyfish
songs when we were in the other band. There was a lot of
back-biting going on. . . . It was really Chris Ketner's band. And 
that gig with Bananarama was the worst concert of all time -- band
members were trying to play badly and succeeded."
     Sturmer, the golden-voiced lead vocalist, is a rock 'n' roll
minority -- the singing drummer. Sure there's Don Henley (if Mojo
Nixon lets him live), that guy from The Romantics, Phil Collins,
and not a whole bunch more. "And I bet I'm the only one that s
tands up too," Sturmer said.
     A famous rodent philosopher, Bugs Bunny, once observed, "Never
take life too seriously; you'll never get out of it alive."
Jellyfish, flippant with a capital "F," has a bio that reads like
a missing chapter of "Alice in Wonderland." It is rife with carto
on references.
     "Although Bugs offers a philosophy to live by, we like real
live cartoons," Sturmer said. "Most of our fans are into cartoons
and generally watch too much television."
     Probably from the '60s. Perhaps that little digital watch that
came in the cereal box stopped, or else Jellyfish really doesn't
know what year it is. Or maybe the Navy was right all along,
bell-bottoms are in.
     "Bell-bottoms never went out," Sturmer said. "Just the other
day, I saw this biker wearing these killer elephant bells. He
bought them in 1976 or something. If it was still 1976 or so, our
dream gig would be between Sweet and Badfinger."
     So into their music Jellyfish is even beyond sports. "The
Niners? We're not into sports at all; we're too uncoordinated,"
Sturmer said. "We were always the last guys chosen in gym class."

     * WHERE AND WHEN
     Jellyfish at The Pub at UC Santa Barbara, Saturday, 7 p.m.
Tickets are $5; $3 for students. For more information, call
893-4457.

GRAPHIC: Photo, Jellyfish will bring their '60s redux rock to UC
Santa Barbara.