Allen Clapp & His Orchestra "A Change in the Weather" 7 inch (Four Letter Words/1991)

Here is a quick little post before I have to start my day getting ready for classes. And perhaps it is a little wishful thinking asking for a change in the weather? But all that aside Allen Clapp is an absolute indie pop genius who has been writing and recording since the late 80s but under the Allen Clapp & His Orchestra name he has been at it since the 1990 with A Change in the Weather being his sophomore release. The two song one sided single was released on the cult, no frills indie pop label Four Letter Words who in their short existence released one indie pop essential after another. Clapp like many other artists of the era opted to document his songs via a four track tape recorder but unlike the usual fuzzy, lo fi excess that was to be expected of the day Clapp instead tried to get as much as he possibly could from a production value standpoint out of the machine to record works that couldn't be mistaken for anything other than pop music. In a way it sounded as if Clapp was trying to bring The Beatles, The Raspberries and even later Jam to the world of lo fi indie music. There is absolutely also a great influence of C-86 stuff like The Shop Assistants and Dolly Mixture present. The title track and the second tune "Advice From Mr Leary" are super short stabs of pop wonderment that get stuck in your head and beg for the needle to be brought back to the beginning. Throughout the years Clapp and His Orchestra released several great songs on compilations and full fledged stand alone releases, perhaps none were better than 1994's full length effort One Hundred Percent Chance of Rain which for my money is one of the greatest, and unheralded albums of the 90s-simply put it is indie pop perfection. Clapp over the years has continued to write and record music with his band The Orange Peels who are a indie pop band as well but a bit more polished than the four track Allen Clapp & His Orchestra stuff. In 2006 The Bus Stop Label issued a collection of all the Allen Clapp & His Orchestra singles/comp tracks and I just heard recently that Clapp has a new album coming under the Allen Clapp & His Orchestra moniker.

Download Here