Jellyfish’s 1993 second and final album, Spilt Milk, is set to be reissued on vinyl as part of UMe’s Vinylphyle series.
With this unique new edition, the 46 minute album has been split into three sides, with the fourth side consisting of an engraved handwritten message from the band’s Roger Joseph Manning, Jr.
Jellyfish’s Spilt Milk will be re-released the way it was meant to be heard, thanks to the meticulous Vinylphyle process. Each Vinylphyle release features all analog mastering. The LPs are pressed at the world-class Southern California-based audiophile vinyl record pressing plan RTI on 180-gram black vinyl.
Additionally, the unique production and packaging include tip-on wrapped gatefold jackets in satin matte finish, printed on clay-coated board, and a four-panel insert. New liner notes feature an interview between Roger and Vinylphyle series producer Elon Wertman.
Spilt Milk has long been regarded as an absolute classic in the power pop subgenre. In a Newsweek feature highlighting the Best Summer Albums from 1985-1997, Zach Schonfeld wrote a blurb on Spilt Milk, saying, “God bless Jellyfish for releasing this power-pop masterwork at the height of the grunge explosion. With angst on the airwaves, Andy Sturmer and Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. (with help from soon-to-be-star-producer Jon Brion) crafted 12 unfashionably sunny and remarkably well-built pop gems.”
Spilt Milk was partially inspired by the late, great Brian Wilson. When Jellyfish began writing their sophomore effort in 1992, the Beach Boy visited the studio and asked what they were working on. Manning, Andy Sturmer, and co-producers Albhy Galuten and Jack Joseph Puig showed some vintage instruments they were working with, which left Wilson wanting more.
As explained by Puig in PopMatters, “This whole idea of retro is baloney.” He went on to recall how the band and producers decided to “use all the things.” Writer Adam Sobsey elucidated: “both harpsichords and digital samplers; timpani set up right next to rock drum kits; new ways of working alongside old, each informing and improving the other.”
