| There's a lyric in
the first song on this album that states "If you only use samples then
you are not original." Someone should let Pepper know that it takes more
than originality to make decent music. As is the case, many of the songs on
their latest release may seem "original" in sound, but I wouldn't want to
listen to them a second time because most of them are also terribly average.
To put this album in context, I went back and
listened to two of the band's other albums, the acclaimed Kona Town
and the tolerable No Shame. The former is the band in its most basic
element: three guys making melodic, relaxing Hawaiian type songs, many of
which are about Hawaii or sex. It's nothing spectacular, but it fits well in
your CD collection next to something by Sublime or Slightly Stoopid. The
latter is where the band makes a bit of a departure, using heavier rhythms,
skits, and more overtly sexual lyrics. For the most part, it's a mainstream
effort. Aside from those new implementations, there are still a few
undeniable gems. Pink Crustaceans and Good Vibrations continues in
the same vein, except the songs seem less accessible to most audiences.
The vocals on this album are soulful like always, but mainly devoid of any
kind of melody that would keep a casual listener from going into the CD
further than the first three or four songs, which I think are the best on
this disc. It takes more than a decent voice or soulful presentation to win
some people over. The first track "Freeze" features rapid fire
Anthony Kiedis-like delivery against a ska backdrop, much like the single
"No Control" from the second album. The chorus of "Davey Jones Locker" is a
vocal climb into falsetto accompanied by an ethereal guitar, which I imagine
is what it be would be like to listen to the Bee Gees on acid. "Love 101"
will satisfy listeners who still resent the departure from the band's roots.
After these first couple songs, the disc kind of falls flat. Songs like "Wet
Dreams" and "Musical 69" are audible if you aren't sick of the band's
in-your-face sex references at this point. Other than that, the rest of the
tracks seem like filler to me, with maybe one or two exceptions depending on
taste.
I do give the band credit for evolving beyond the island/reggae format of
emphasizing the second and fourth beats. A sizable portion of their newer
songs feature more inventive arrangements which shift back and forth from
reggae to ska to rock to a hybrid of all of them, which fans of No Shame
might enjoy. This doesn't seem to make the songs any better, it
simply keeps them from sounding repetitive. While their presentation may be
borderline original, I feel like more time could have been taken to make
this CD palatable to fans of the band's melody-driven earlier work.
Key Tracks: Davey Jones Locker, Love 101,
Drive
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