As any fan of the Food Network knows, a few scrapes from an orange peel adds zest to a dish. San Francisco Bay Area indie-popsters the Orange Peels, according to master chef Allen Clapp, reinvented themselves by inviting more cooks into the kitchen. The result, Sun Moon (Minty Fresh), is a fully collaborative and very tasty effort. Last summer, Peels bassist (and Clapp’s wife) Jill Pries asked the other two band members—guitarist John Moremen and drummer Gabriel Coan—to drop by their Sunnyvale, Calif., home/studio. “It didn’t mean I was happy about it,” says Clapp, grown used to demoing the band’s material before presenting it to the others. “I told her I didn’t have any songs ready.” Clapp will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new Orange Peels feature.
Clapp: San Francisco has a storied history of producing psychedelic supergroups, but as recent memory proves, the tradition is definitely in need of revisiting. Made up mostly of members of the Corner Laughers (see earlier post), the Bay Area’s latest entry in the too-vacant category is called the the Agony Aunts. The band also includes members of William Cleere & The Marvellous Fellas, the Orange Peels and others. The Agony Aunts are mostly fictional, but their presence has been documented extensively nonetheless. Killer pop hooks, hip-swinging grooves and swirly, tongue-twister lyrics add up to a Marin County-meets-L.A. coastal onslaught of Fillmore West proportions.
Rumor has it, it’s the brainchild of Oakland singer/songwriter and producer KC Bowman, whose debut album, Fresher Tin Villages, still holds a place of esteem in the hearts of power-pop fans across the globe. But let’s not ruin a good thing. It might as well be the resurfacing of Klaatu, picking up where they last left off.
Whatever it is, they did it on their debut album, Greater Miranda, and they’re doing it again later this summer on their sophomore release, Big Cinnamon. Look and listen for it.
And while we’re discussing the new and unreleased, look this fall for the debut long-player by my friends John Moremen and Paul Myers who call themselves, not unsurprisingly, The Paul & John. They’ve labored over a period of four years to bring together a collection of songs called Inner Sunset, the meaning of which will become clear when you hear it. They released a preview single in early 2013, and the world is still awaiting the rest of the tracks. Do it guys, do it!
Video after the jump.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOubVq32POc
