Licorice Roots

In an alternate timeline where the founding figures of Elephant 6—Jeff Mangum with his scratchy lo-fi folk, Will Cullen Hart and Bill Doss with their trippy experimental leanings, and Robert Schneider with his talent for clever pop hooks—had united rather than splintering into Neutral Milk Hotel, the Olivia Tremor Control, and the Apples in Stereo, the resulting sound would closely resemble that of the Delaware psych-pop trio the Licorice Roots. The group actually began issuing recordings ahead of those three outfits, yet their sporadic output and understated visibility have kept them a secret gem known mainly to committed followers of contemporary psychedelia.

The Licorice Roots grew out of an earlier project called Raymond Listen. In the college town of Newark, DE, singer/songwriter and guitarist Edward Moyse teamed with drummer David Milsom to launch that band in 1990. Organist and percussionist Dave Silverman came aboard in 1992, and the following year the trio earned a Cute Band Alert feature in the post-feminist teen magazine Sassy. Their first full-length, Licorice Root Orchestra, appeared on Shimmy-Disc in 1993 after being produced by New Jersey noise pop maven Kramer. Early in 1994 the lineup expanded with an additional guitarist and percussionist for a national tour, only to dissolve soon afterward. Within months, however, Moyse, Silverman, and Milsom resumed activity under the Licorice Roots banner. Three years of work yielded their debut as the new entity, Melodeon, which surfaced in 1997. A follow-up, Caves of the Sun, arrived via self-release in 2003. Three years after that, the Chicago-based indie Essay Records signed the band and issued Shades of Streamers; simultaneously, the label put out an expanded and remastered version of Licorice Root Orchestra credited to the Licorice Roots.