Information/Write-up
Jellyfishbabies were a Halifax-born alternative rock band whose brief but influential run between the mid-1980s and early 1990s helped lay important groundwork for what would soon be recognized as the Halifax Pop Explosion. While they never achieved sustained mainstream success, the band’s combination of strong musicianship, literate songwriting, and stylistic range placed them a step ahead of many contemporaries, and their work resonated deeply with the generation of Halifax bands that followed.
Formed in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1986, the group centred on vocalist and guitarist Scott Kendall, with guitarist Peter Arsenault, bassist David Schellenberg, and an early rhythm section that evolved during the band’s formative years. Jellyfishbabies quickly distinguished themselves on the local circuit, releasing an independently issued self-titled album in 1986 that reportedly rose to the top of CKDU-FM’s local charts within days of release—an early indicator of the band’s strong campus-radio appeal.
That same year, Jellyfishbabies were featured on Out of the Fog, a Halifax compilation that documented the city’s emerging underground scene and later gained historical significance for including early appearances by artists who would soon break nationally. The band’s presence on the compilation positioned them squarely within a rapidly coalescing East Coast alternative network that valued originality, independence, and literate songwriting.
By the late 1980s, as Halifax’s infrastructure for independent bands remained limited, Jellyfishbabies made the now-familiar east-to-Toronto migration in pursuit of broader opportunities. In 1989, the group relocated to Toronto, with drummer Michael Belitsky joining the lineup following the move. The shift brought new momentum and access to a larger industry ecosystem, while preserving the band’s distinctly Halifax-rooted sensibility.
The resulting album, The Unkind Truth About Rome, was released in 1990 on Lone Wolf Records and Fringe Product. Recorded at Reaction Studios and produced by Michael-Phillip Wojewoda, the record marked the band’s most fully realized statement. Musically, it ranged from taut, driving alternative rock to more expansive and atmospheric material, often drawing on literary and historical themes. Songs such as “Alba,” “Girl in the Window,” and “Wild Cows” balanced melodic accessibility with darker lyrical undercurrents, while “The Gibbet Song” and “The Erlking” drew explicitly from François Villon and Goethe respectively—an unusual move that underscored Kendall’s literary ambitions as a songwriter.
Several tracks from the album extended Jellyfishbabies’ reach beyond their own releases. “The Erlking” appeared on the Highway 61 soundtrack, and the band contributed a cover of Bruce Cockburn’s “Call It Democracy” to the tribute album Kick at the Darkness, placing them in dialogue with a broader Canadian alternative and socially conscious music community at the turn of the decade.
Despite critical respect and strong peer recognition, Jellyfishbabies struggled to convert momentum into sustained commercial success. Lineup instability and the realities of the early-1990s independent marketplace took their toll. Arsenault departed to join the Doughboys, and although the band continued briefly—issuing The Swan and the City—the project dissolved soon afterward.
In the years following the breakup, Jellyfishbabies’ influence became increasingly evident. Members of Sloan, among the most prominent figures to emerge from Halifax’s next wave, later cited the band as an inspiration, including naming their 2003 album Action Pact after the Jellyfishbabies song “Youth Action Pact.” Drummer Michael Belitsky went on to play with Jale and later established a wide-ranging career performing with artists such as Neko Case, The Sadies, and Pernice Brothers. Scott Kendall remained active, later fronting the Vancouver-based group Babies with Rabies.
Bassist David Schellenberg passed away in 1995, bringing a quiet finality to one of the more elusive but important chapters in Halifax’s alternative rock lineage.
Today, Jellyfishbabies are remembered less for chart success than for their role as a bridge between Halifax’s early underground scene and the nationally recognized explosion that followed—an articulate, ambitious band whose recorded legacy continues to reward rediscovery.
-Robert williston
Musicians
Scott Kendall: vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, harmonica, percussion, cabasa, kettle drum
Peter Arsenault: guitar, backing vocals, percussion
David Schellenberg: bass, percussion
Michael Belitsky: drums, percussion
Additional musicians
Michael-Phillip Wojewoda: keyboards, percussion, organ
Jackson Huang: violin
Zoltan Rozsnyai: cello
Maria Del-Mar: voice
Songwriting
All songs written by Scott Kendall, except where noted
Songs © Scott Kendall, 1990
Registered PROCAN
“The Gibbet Song” based on a ballad by François Villon
“The Erlking” based on a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Production
Produced by Michael-Phillip Wojewoda
Recorded at Reaction Studios, 1989
Licensed to Lone Wolf Records
Manufactured by Fringe Product
Distributed by Fringe Product
Artwork
Art direction and design by Patrick Duffy
Notes
Includes photo insert
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