Col. Knowledge & The Lickity Splits

Hometown: Athens, Ga.

Members: Pictured above [L-R]: Andy Steck (Farfisa organ, vocals) Jeremy Beck (drums, percussion), Aaron Jollay (bass, brass, vocals), Tim Schreiber (vocals, guitar)

Fun fact: Rent 1994 film Milk Money, starring Melanie Griffith, and you can catch bassist Aaron Jollay’s Oscar-worthy performance as “Nerd at Dance.”

Why you should check them out: The band’s Alive Records debut is a kitschy, poppy nugget that’ll make you long for nights you spent dancing in the headlights with your teenage crush, even if you didn’t go to high school in the early ’60s.

For fans of: ? & The Mysterians, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Frank Zappa’s doo-wop material

"We're not doing anything that hasn't already been done," says keyboardist Andy Steck. Perhaps not, but the band—having just released its debut Fall In Love All Over Again With... Col. Knowledge & The Lickity Splits—is making a name for itself with its instantly familiar sound and playful shows.

Steck met frontman/guitarist Tim Schreiber at a record sale two years ago and struck up a conversation with the college-radio DJ, who was hosting an oldies show at the time on Athens’ WUOG. The two connected over a shared love of bizarre sound effects, the Mothers of Invention and the desire to form a doo-wop group.

The resulting project has been compared to “Buddy Holly on speed,” and at times, identified as revivalist. But Steck insists this isn't really accurate, and that the band is more interested in having fun than preserving some sort of musical heritage. “I hope people come away from the shows with a sweaty shirt and more endorphins,” he says. “We function for entertainment purposes only.”

Somewhat surprising, then, is Steck’s comparison of Col. Knowledge’s music to the neo-classical work of composer Igor Stravinsky, whose compositions looked back to the work of Mozart and Bach while incorporating modern devices. The doo-wop music of Frank Zappa—who was greatly influenced by Stravinsky—is a more direct link. “We do the same thing [Stravinsky and Zappa did]” says Steck, “but with ’60s garage rock.”

The shows, which incorporate absurd jokes and rubber chickens (!) may only get wackier as the band works on its theatrics—a Wheel of Fortune backdrop has been discussed—and a second album, Fiesta, which Steck says has heavy Tejano and surf-rock influences.

“We don’t restrict ourselves to any formula,” he says.

Col. Knowledge & The Lickity Splits have found success on the college charts in their hometown, as well as in Montreal and Hawaii. Having achieved popularity in such disparate locations speaks to the band’s appeal.

“We had a bunch of sorority girls up front at one of our recent shows, screaming and being crazy,” says Steck. “[But we’ll] get punk guys with all sorts of piercings and also skinny little indie guys coming up after the shows and telling me how much fun they had.”

(Fall In Love All Over Again With... Col. Knowledge & The Lickity Splits is available online at theAlive Records website)