Murphy, Donovan and Sherriff had allegedly been members of an American rock band called the Rev-Ups, which had initially formed near Mexico but had subsequently moved to the New Forest area of England.

[17][18][19] Sean Kitching of The Quietus has also claimed that "according to Tim, the note for the project that became Spratleys Japs read: 'Record something really quickly, make the drums sound shit.

'",[20] while The Organ would claim in 2024 that "Tim once said he was trying to write pop songs [for Spratleys Japs] and to his frustration 'they always came out sounding like all the other shit I do.'...

Attending the Lexington gig, Paul Lester of Prog hailed the band's "maverick spirit" and "curious thrashy vignettes [which] locate the weirdness at the centre of post-war English genteel society and culture...

Lester also noted the band's multiple musical ingredients ("prog punk... classical, psych and prog... galumphing strangeness") and the way in which the song "Burnt" "violently transitions from hippie to rhythmic post-punk, goes back to psych, fits in a Mothers of Invention snark chorale, then repeats", as well as commenting that "[Joanne] Spratley sings like a Victorian girl trapped in an attic – her distracted, plummy English tones are a signature component of this mad miscellany.

"[23] On 18 December 2018, the single "Her/Hands" was released,[24] featuring two tracks written collectively by the current band and with Tim Smith credited as "executive musical producer".

[25] This was followed by a Christmas gig at the Garage club in London to celebrate an Honorary Degree as Doctor of Music from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland which Smith had received in October.

[26] Reviewing the concert, Roger Trenwith of The Progressive Aspect commented that it "gave my quirk button a gentle nudge", drawing attention to the "fabulously angular but direct" songs "Klog" and "Cabinet" and observing that "Jo Spratley has a beguiling stage presence, moving around like a marionette set free, messing up her hair and casting cryptic glances at the thronging melee in front of her.

With Stephen Gilchrist replacing Damo Waters on drums, the band resurfaced in May 2024 to play a series of "Sing for Tim" gigs in London and Leeds in honour of Tim Smith, alongside The Smith & Drake Ensemble, Crayola Lectern and Cardiacs & Friends (the last being a line-up of various ex-Cardiacs and related musicians playing a headlining set of Cardiacs songs).

[13][14][15][16] Reviewing Spratleys at the first London gig, The Organ stated "there’s a lot of emotion up there, there’s joy, there’s tears, there’s drums, tambourines and ribbons and a beautiful sway, these songs always had a beautiful sway, a flow, a majestic rhythm, a kind of pushing throb, they are different, still with that same wonderful essence though and they are being performed rather well to a very very attentive joyous crowd tonight, of course they are.