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Sundowner
Pepper: Pepper

Pepper

(Pepper)
Genre: 
Release Date: 
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Grade:
B+
Format: 
LP
Did You Know?

The album will feature a guest appearance by Law Records lablemate & hip hop artist Splinta. 

Pepper’s latest release, simply titled Pepper, is my first outing with the band. At first I kind of shrugged and thought the album would have been a bit better had it come out, oh, 10-15 years ago when fusion rock/ska bands like The Urge, Sublime, etc were making waves in the radio, but the more I listened the more I liked it. 
 
Now the band has been in some trouble before with fans clamming they sound too much like Sublime. Maybe just a little. Lead vocals on some tracks do lean a bit heavy on the Bradley Nowell sound, but those tracks are few and far between. Like any self respecting fusion act out there the band mixes their sound up with reggae, ska, punk, rock, and hip hop. It might sound a bit dated, but these guys have been using this formula since 96, which explains why their sound feels like it’s come from the way back. 
 
Try as I might to avoid linking the bands sound to groups like The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Incubus (okay more of a nod towards the vocals sounding a bit Brandon Boyd-ish, as well as some of the lyrics), The Urge, and Sublime, but overall the flow of the music on the album insists that, even if we do sound a bit similar it’s not going to stop us from having fun and making music. By my second go with the album I had forgotten any comparisons and simply enjoyed the mix of the album, the lyrics, and fallen into a nostalgic longing for the better days when music had meaning, especially in this particular field of music that continues its long and unrelenting mission to hit on subjects of class wars, big brother involvements, and unifying people of all races and backgrounds towards peaceful coexistence.  
 
The album very well hits on the above mentioned topics but doesn’t forget to include more universal connection on other issues like relationships (good and bad), living for yourself, and of course the usual party anthems that insist upon dropping pot references and sex. All in all though, despite having a heavy Caribbean vibe, the album really does make you forget about the players, kind of making them faceless, colorless, and odorless (I ran out of descriptions) and giving you more of a focal point on the message rather then the players themselves. I kind of dug that and I think a lot of people will as well. Strange I’d never heard of this band until today, but I’m highly suggesting fans of this genre check out their music.
AJ Garcia
Review by AJ Garcia
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