SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
Copyright 1993, San Jose Mercury News
DATE: Friday, February 26, 1993
PAGE: 20
EDITION: Morning Final
SECTION: Eye
LENGTH:  28 in. Medium
MEMO: R ECORDINGS Individual reviewers' bylines at bottom of each
review

ROCK
     JELLYFISH ''Spilt Milk'' (Charisma; CD and cassette) (****). 
It's inevitable that rock 'n' roll innovators Paul McCartney and
Brian Wilson would become so out of touch that they eventually
become upstaged by the kids weaned on their music.  Jellyfish's 
''Spilt Milk'' is as compelling a homage to the Beatles and the
Beach Boys as there is.  Though the record is frustratingly
derivative, the sprawling production and loving performances
ultimately win over skeptical listeners.
      Jellyfish's 1990 debut album was flawed by indifferent
production and a paucity of realized melodies.  ''Spilt*Milk''
corrects those problems with a tribute to production coups of the
past.  Throughout the 12 songs featured here, singer-songwriter
Andy 
Sturmer and Roger Manning salute the Beatles' ''Sgt. Pepper's
Lonely Hearts Club Band,'' Queen's ''A Night at the Opera,'' the
Beach Boys' ''Pet Sounds'' and Supertramp's ''Breakfast in
America'' - four of rock's sonic masterpieces.
     Indeed, ''Spilt Milk'' is so heavy on production
sleight-of-hand that the melodies sometimes collapse beneath the
weight of the sound.  For instance, ''Joining a Fan Club'' features
a vaudeville piano introduction that gives way to a bruising rock
chorus
.  ''New Mistake'' mixes jangly guitars, castanets,
baroque-sounding string embellishments and hard rock flourishes
that disappear as suddenly as they surface. - Bruce Britt Los
Angeles Daily News