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Quick, turn up the jangle-o-meter, The Orange Peels are in town! If you liked the sunny California sound of Spanky And Our Gang, the Beau Brummels, The Cyrkle and the Associationâ??and there's no shame in admitting this addictionâ??you will absolutely adore this trebly, 12-string, tambourine-heavy, harmony-drenched journey back to more innocent times. For a more recent comparison, try traces of Big Star, Raspberries, Velvet Crush, The Shoes (anyone remember them?); each song is a self-contained, magical, late sixties nugget.
Originally, The Orange Peels were a garage band, based in Sunnyvale (where else?), California, releasing two albums on Minty Fresh and SpinArt before unveiling the celestial majesty that is 'Circling The Sun'. Then they hooked up with producer Bryan Hanna, who realised that these shiny, happy people had a shiny, happy vision.
The group are essentially Allen Clapp, who sings leads, writes and arranges, with Ode Ronnie on guitars and keyboards and Jill Pries on bass, plus three (count 'em) different drummers. The music this trio make is peppy, preppy, often psychedelic, poppy and, at a bargain thirty-four minutes, a real blast.

John Stacey
October 2005

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