Sun Moon

The Orange Peels went for a more collaborative writing process for their fifth studio album, 2013's Sun Moon. Main songwriter Allen Clapp had just finished up work on his 2012 solo album Mixed Greens and was surely in the mood for some help from his bandmates. So with bassist Jill Pries, guitarist John Moremen, and new drummer Gabriel Coan all together in their home studio, work began on this expansive pop album, which does the group's legacy just fine. "Yonder," the seven-minute closer, brings in orchestration for a cathartic take on baroque late-'60s pop. For more immediate gratification, there's the guitar and harmony punch of "The Words Don't Work" and the partly cloudy sunshine hovering over the melody, lyrics, and arrangement of "Grey Holiday." Elements of prog rock can be heard in the slower build of "Your New Heroes," making clear that this Bay Area band continues to explore all the avenues of classic rock and pop from the '60s and early '70s.