Peppermint can freshen things up

After thrashing around in the handful of small clubs and pubs in the Shida-NTU area for the past three years, the local indie band Peppermint (薄荷葉) have finally released a second album and are preparing for a 13-stop national tour that starts tonight at The Wall in Taipei.

A college band par excellence, the four teamed up during stints at Chinese Culture University and tend to wear the educated literary sensibility of their music on their sleeves, especially in the new album titled Taxi Room (的士房間). The album comes with a flowery introduction to the music and its conceptual roots in what amounts to middle-class listlessness.

It's also being released in conjunction with a painting exhibition that will adorn the walls of The Wall tonight.

The paintings in the show were made by the bass and guitar players' mother Huang Huei-ying (黃慧鶯), who took the songs' lyrics as inspiration, and by Wu Yung-chieh (吳詠潔), a friend of the band who contributed much of the album's artwork.

When it comes to the music on the new album, there are few departures from the jangly, guitar-driven sound of their first release that begged analogies to Belle and Sebastian. The comparison fits nicely for the shared sardonic tone of the lyrics juxtaposing with the cheery melodies.

But Taxi Room has a slightly rougher edge, a tad more distortion and even a few electronic loops added to the mix.

The upcoming tour will include six unplugged shows, which should tone down the grittier side of the album and bring out the lyrics, arguably the best part of Peppermint's music. Pay close attention.

Tickets to tonight's show cost NT$300. The Wall is located at B1, 200 Roosevelt Rd, Sec 4, Taipei (台北市羅斯福路4段200號B1).