Pepper – In With the Old / 2004 Volcom Entertainment / 12 Tracks / http://www.pepperlive.com / http://www.volcoment.com / Released 30 March 2004 / Reviewed 26 February 2004

Fitting in with the laid-back California sound of 311 and Sublime, with Synchronicity-era Police and Bob Marley sound, Pepper puts this, their latest album, to the forefront. However, Pepper is one of those bands that are perfectly content following the wakes of a number of innovative bands, instead of trying to experiment and incorporate new sounds to their sounds. “Use Me” is the first single-worth track on “In With the Old”, not due to the hackneyed ska-esque guitars but the hooky chorus. The general song that is on “In With The Old” is extraordinarily Spartan, but paradoxically with flawless recording. Instead of trying to sound down-to-earth, each instrument, each snippet of vocals instead sound computerized and hollow. Pepper knows how to create that insanely hooky chorus, but the mediocre lead-ups to these chorus are almost intolerable, using tension to create an artificial mood instead of instrumental virtuosity.

“Ashes” is another high moment for the band, using interesting time signatures with a slightly-sped up tempo and a chorus intended for audience recitation in a tightly composed song. The Spartan attitude of the rest of the disc is still present, but the time signatures and sped up tempos make the illusion of a more solid mesh of sound. Sliding effortlessly in “Border Town”, the laid-back nature of the band works perfectly with the slide guitar to create that perfect alt-rock track. There are a few tracks, such as the aforementioned, that stand out, but let us not forget that there are a vast majority of tracks on “In With the Old” that are just filler, falling into the Living Color/311 sound. The embarrassing exercise that is “Keep Your Head Bangin”, done up in a slightly harder-edged sound than the rest of the disc, has cheesy (intentional) lyrics like : “My four-wheel Dragon/is my only companion” and “I’m hooking up with the sex-machine, she’s only eleventeen”.

The Darkness-like “Keep Your Head Bangin”, however much I don’t want to say it, is probably the best track on the disc. The ironic tone of the track shows that the band has some sort of personality, and the guitar and drums on the track show that the band can actually break out of the box that being influenced by Sublime and reggae music will put one in. Four or five tracks on this disc are half-way decent, the others are immediately forgettable tracks that seem to be added onto “In With the Old” as an afterthought. Perhaps Pepper will condense their sound, such as in “Ashes”, and will cut away some of the fat that is on this disc.

Top Tracks: Ashes, Punk Rock Cowboy

Rating: 5.8/10