Peppermint Moon Photo credit: Thatcher Hayward
The sophomore album is often the monster hiding under the bed for many artists. It can be marred by lack of inspiration, over-ambitiousness, or a disconnect from a core aesthetic. None of these issues plague psych-rock band Peppermint Moon’s second album, The Flipside.
The project’s singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Colin Schlitt had a peculiar sophomore struggle. He released a version of Peppermint Moon’s second album years ago, and then scrapped it and pulled it offline. Now, under a new distribution deal with Revolver UK Music, that album has been reimagined, re-recorded, and officially released as The Flipside: an eight-song collection featuring those previous compositions plus some brand new songs that showcase Schlitt’s finest songwriting and most refined production to date. The album will be preceded by the garage-rockin’ lead single, “Get Off Your Knees.”
“When I initially put the album out, I rushed it,” the Point Reyes Station, California-based artist admits. “These are some of the best songs I’ve written, and I just felt I didn’t do them justice back then. Everything came together on this version.”
Peppermint Moon specializes in lush, lysergic pop-rock with jagged edges and doses of synthy ear-candy. Schlitt savors the juxtaposition of upbeat music with evocative but obtuse, darker-toned lyrics. “I like the listener to be involved in what the song is about. I keep things open to interpretation,” he says. Schlitt writes, performs all the instruments, and produces Peppermint Moon albums. It’s a one-man operation in the studio, but live the band boasts a rotating cast of top-tier Bay Area musicians. To date, Peppermint Moon has issued one LP and two EPs.
Peppermint Moon invites favorable comparisons to Elvis Costello, The Elephant 6 collective, MGMT, and The Beatles. The Fab Four remain a North Star for Schlitt. “Having ‘pepper’ in the band name is a sort of a dog whistle for Beatles fans,” Schlitt says laughing.
Peppermint Moon has garnered accolades from popular radio host Cia Cia La Pirata of KALX UC Berkeley Radio, The Pacific Sun, and North Bay Bohemian, among others. The Bohemian calls Peppermint Moon: “… psychedelic dream pop that walks the line between the Beatles and early Radiohead, with forlorn vocals akin to Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and melodic hooks that would make Beck jealous.” Peppermint Moon songs have been featured in the indie film Girl in the Palms.
Schlitt is a veteran of the Los Angeles and SF Bay Area music scenes where he has played in many of the West Coast’s most venerated venues. Outside of Peppermint Moon, Schlitt plays bass and sings some of his songs in the theatrical indie-rock juggernaut, El Radio Fantastique.
The Flipside opens dreamily with “Could You Walk Away.” The harmony-splashed folk song evokes CSNY being produced by Sgt. Pepper’s-minded George Martin. It’s the only acoustic centric song on the album, and its strummy presentation is the direct result of the headstock snapping off Schlitt’s only electric guitar after his kitty jumped on it and sent it crashing to the floor.
The title track gets down and dirty with some T. Rex swagger. Here, even Schlitt’s words ooze a rock n’ roll mojo. One standout passage is: You say you know what’s on the flipside/You say it’s much more than a hunch/You swear to god this time there’s no doubt/That and 10 bucks will buy you lunch. The cinematic “This Way Monsters Be” teems with animal imagery and mystical metaphors. The deliciously-titled “Vanilla Whale,” named after a font, marries a Beatles-y minor tonality with a *Police*-like sense of space and ambience.
The album ends grandly with “What You Wanted,” a psych-pop gem that lumbers along with bashy Ringo-style drums, a hooky McCartney-esque bassline, and features breezy falsetto backing vocals. This is a cautionary tale about the unintended consequences of getting what you want. Schlitt sings: They want you at your best/You better think about what you started/They want you to confess/You better think about what you started.
About the album, Schlitt had the following to tell The Big Takeover:
“The opening track “Could You Walk Away?” Is about the vulnerability of wearing your heart on your sleeve and also thinking about what you can live without. Expressing love can be scary, but that’s part of what makes it so exhilarating when it’s reciprocated.
I started writing “Get Off Your Knees” at a time when I was feeling uncertain about the future, but also was telling myself that it was going to be ok. “Don’t get jaded. Get off your knees! This is scary, but we will get through it. My favorite line of the song is in the second verse; “Something’s wrong, but I am feeling strong. Just like King Kong, if he still lived with his mom!” Maybe King Kong is bolstered by the maternal presence, or maybe he is a pretender living in his mom’s basement in the jungle.
The title track of the album “The Flipside” explores my more pessimistic side. I’m usually a “glass-half-full” type of person. I definitely journey to the dark side a little bit on this one though. The Flipside refers to the unknown of what happens after you die. As I say in the song, if someone guarantees they know what happens, my response is: “That and 10 bucks will buy you lunch!”
An immature joke that might fly under the radar in “On A Dare” is in the second verse: “Elixer? He hardly knows her!”
There’s a silly line in “Like You Used to Feel” that pays homage to John Lennon’s most famous valentine: “Inside the shell is no yolk. Oh no!”
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