Copyright 1990 The Times Mirror Company   
Los Angeles Times
October 27, 1990, Saturday, Home Edition
SECTION: Calendar; Part F; Page 4; Column 1; Entertainment Desk
LENGTH: 257 words
HEADLINE: POP REVIEWS;
JELLYFISH RECYCLE THE '70S WITH APLOMB
BYLINE: By STEVE HOCHMAN
BODY:
     Remember those floppy crocheted hats with panels made from
cut-up Coors cans that some people wore in the '70s? If that gives
you a kick, you probably would have liked seeing Jellyfish at the
Roxy on Thursday. If you're still wearing one, you're probably
 in the band.  
     Bassist Chris Manning was indeed so becapped on Thursday, and
if that doesn't give you a good enough picture, how about "Alice in
Wonderland"-meets-"H. R. Pufnstuf" stage decor and finery and a
song selection that included the MTV theme (all 10 seconds o
f it), an old Big Mac jingle (15 seconds) and affectionate versions
of songs by Styx, the Archies, Badfinger and Wings? Don't laugh .
. . for these four young Bay Area boppers, that's the cultural
equivalent of rappers sampling James Brown and Funkadelic.
 As for what that says about the respective cultures, well, make up
your own mind.
     OK, do laugh. The crowd did; the band did too. (Like they were
gonna dress and play like that and expect to be taken seriously.)
What makes this a band worth laughing with, though, is the fact
that it's actually quite talented and imaginative in its orig
inal material and presentation, as thrift-store-derivative as it
is.
     Tricky harmonies and complex but catchy arrangements were all
executed with aplomb that transcends the campy '70s nostalgia,
giving hope that Jellyfish can someday bury that nostalgia and
progress on its own '90s terms if it so chooses. And the only thin
g that weakened the joke was that L.A.'s Redd Kross has already
done it. STEVE HOCHMAN