Live at Bogart's

Recorded on February 21, 1991, at the now defunct Bogart's nightclub in Long Beach, California, the appropriately titled Live at Bogart's captures a moment in time from one of the most beloved power pop/underground/bubblegum alt-rock outfits of the early '90s. Recorded when Jellyfish were touring in support of 1990's Bellybutton, the set, a large portion of which appeared on B-sides as well as 2002's sprawling four-disc box set of all unreleased and/or hard-to-find material, Fan Club relies almost solely on material from that album. The previously unissued cuts, "The King Is Half-Undressed," "I Wanna Stay Home," "All I Want Is Everything," a dead-on cover of Badfinger's "No Matter What," and an early version of Spilt Milk's "Bye Bye Bye," are as fluid, flawless, and lovingly detailed as their predecessors, and the band, which at the time featured Andy Sturmer, Roger Manning, Jason Falkner, and Chris Manning, was firing on all cylinders, despite the ensuing exhaustion and creative differences that would eventually cause Falkner and Chris Manning to leave the fold after the tour. Between the arsenal of should-have-been-massive AOR radio hits like "Baby's Coming Back" and "I Wanna Stay Home" and the decision to bookend their shows with an Argent song ("Hold Your Head Up") and a Wings tune ("Let 'Em In"), the latter of which dissolves effortlessly into Bellybutton highlight "That Is Why," Live at Bogart's offers up 13 very good reasons why Jellyfish retain the kind of fervent fan base that's usually relegated to groups with a much deeper discography.