Sun Kissed

It can be a challenge tracing the circuitous path of Sunnyvale’s Orange Peels. Leader Allen Clapp grew the band out of his solo work in the mid-’90s, although bassist Jill Pries has been the only mainstay throughout nine different lineups. Members have come and gone and often come back. Likewise, the Orange Peels started out on the indie label Minty Fresh for 1997’s Square and returned to it for last year’s 2020. The intervening decade-plus brought releases on spinART and Parasol, while the current lineup is a five-piece featuring two members of the Ocean Blue. The band’s sound has remained consistent, schooled in a lush lineage of West Coast pop going back to the ’60s. But the Orange Peels also include hooky rave-ups, serene jangle, and every other shade of the guitar-pop rainbow, guided by Clapp’s unflappable voice. Many of their songs are quite spacey as well, and their cover of the Beatles’ “Hello Goodbye” sounds more like the Byrds or Big Star. There’s range as well as reliability. Clapp even penned a hometown yarn in “Back in San Francisco,” another welcome breeze of glistening twang.

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More About

• Allen Clapp
• Sunnyvale
• Jill Pries
• The Beatles

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The Orange Peels and Birdmonster open for West Indian Girl.
Fri., Jan. 22, 10 p.m., 2010