The
Orange Peels - Circling The Sun
Holed
up in a Sunnyvale tract home, The Orange Peels have written the
next chapter in the California Sound. If the band's first two
albums, Square (Minty Fresh) and So Far (SpinArt), were the groundwork
for their newest effort, the foundations were well laid. But
nobody could have predicted the soaring heights and sweeping
soundscapes of Circling the Sun.
Taking cues from the terrestrial and the celestial,
the band's third album is both more earthy and spacey than its
past works. Perhaps it's the addition of Oed Ronne (The Ocean
Blue), a multi-instrumentalist who joined the band in late 2002
on lead guitar and keyboards. Or the fact that the band broke
free from its garage to work again with producer Bryan Hanna
(who collaborated on the band's debut disc) in the new world-class
acoustic spaces of the Terrarium in Minneapolis. Or, maybe a
few more orbits around the solar system's big star have granted
the band a new perspective. It's the sound of a band transformed.
It shows in Allen Clapp's expansive song and vocal arrangements,
which echo a lyrical preoccupation with the weather and the cosmos.
It's evident in Jill Pries, whose grumpily melodic bass lines
propel the Peels' songs in new directions. Three different drummers
contribute here: Peter Anderson (John Vanderslice, The Ocean
Blue) brings his session-perfect touches just where they're needed
("So Right," "Long Cold Summer"); Mr. Hanna
lends brute force to "Something in You" and "Circling
the Sun," and Peels' original drummer Bob Vickers reappears
to grace "California Blue" and the album's closing
number, "How Green the Grass" with his laid-back West
Coast beats.
Whatever the case, the Peels emerge reborn - tambourines shaking,
guitars chiming, string arrangements fluttering --beckoning
you to the golden shores of the West Coast.
Past praise for The Orange Peels' work:
“The Orange Peels, taking the classic pop tradition on its own terms, are
writing another chapter — while exploring promises that the mythological
California Dream could never make good on.”
—The San Francisco Guardian
“
The California-specific allusions guarantee that
when Clapp sings one of his lovelorn tunes, it’s not
taken as typical hpyersensitive pop fiction: He manages to
delineate the specific location — and even the temperature — of
said heartbreak, as if the enduring pain of lost love had
created total recall.”
— Time Out New York
“Tthe jangling chords
and bountiful hooks are alone worth the price of admission, but as with
the best
pop records,
there are more piquant pleasures lurking beneath the shiny
surface.”
— Rolling Stone
“Melancholy pop stylists from the
Golden State, the Orange Peels are brilliant not only at
pastiche, but at getting
to the heart of the reservoirs of emotion underlying great
pop music, and their grasp takes in the full spectrum of
the California Sound, from Aurthur Lee to Jimmy Webb.”
— Pop Culture Press
"Just because Beauty
tops the band’s agenda
doesn’t mean there isn’t any room for bite. His
songs have a sweet-and-sour pungency that lingers, and Clapp
wraps unsettling sentiments in deceptively pretty packages.”
— Boston Phoenix
"Singer/songwriter
Allen Clapp has crafted an album that demands to be played while driving
the Pacific Coast
Highway. If you do not have a convertible, do not be surprised
if you find yourself cutting the roof off your car.”
— Tower Records.com
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