California Oranges - Oranges & Pineapples
(Darla)
This Sacramento-area band (Roseville, to be exact) began life as Holiday Flyer, which released four enjoyable twee-pop albums before the Conley siblings splintered into California Oranges (guitarist, John) and Sinking Ships (drummer, Katie—debut full length, Out of Key Harmony was released by Darla last year)—both bands share former Flyer bassist, Verna Brock and are rounded out by the Levine twins, Matt & Ross. Family trees aside, power pop is alive and well on their sophomore effort, which is everything the disappointing Rubinoos' reunion album of cover tunes could (and, twenty years ago, would) have been.
Once again, the excitement of early 80s power poppers, The Knack, 20/20, The Pop, The Beat et al, is all over this crate of goodies. Highlighted by candy-coated melodies, sticky sweet harmonies and a general bubblegummy vibe, lead-off dittie "Broken Typewriter" is a harbinger of the fun to come, while Bloom puts her cute, 60s girly pop voice (think Marcy Blaine and "Bobby's Girl") to good effect on "So Many Days."
Of course, too much sugar is never a good thing, and some songs like "Spacesuit" and "Cool Breeze" zip by unnoticed. And at less than half an hour, it's not a very good value for the money. But, if you need to spend a light and airy half hour lazin' away on the hammock, enjoying the summer breezes in the backyard, you could do worse that Oranges and Pineapples. (NOTE: The more budget conscious listeners may elect to await a possible pairing of this with the band's equally short self-titled debut for an hour's worth of infectious pop confections.)
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