So why is Pepper’s Kona Town on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
If you’re not familiar with Pepper, it’s very understandable if you’d mistake If you’re not familiar with the Hawaiian trio Pepper, you’d be forgiven for mistaking them for Sublime at first.
But once you acclimate to Bret Bollinger’s strong, Bradley Nowell–like vocals – and the fact that Pepper plays around in Sublime-like reggae, alt-rock, dub, ska, and punk territory – you’ll realize they’re their own outstanding thing.
One of the many strengths of Kona Town is how sonically wide-ranging and eclectic the album is.
“Sitting on the Curb” reminds me of Buck-o-Nine’s best song, “My Town” (off of Twenty-Eight Teeth, #578 of best 1,000 albums ever). It’s cheerful and upbeat, playful ska that zooms along like great times and great moods tend to.
And then “Dry Spell” slows things down considerably in perhaps my favorite reggae rock song produced in this century. There’s great interplay too between the groovy, slow choruses and the harder rocking chorus.
“Face Plant” proves that Pepper can ably play purely in the punk rock or alt rock space if they want to. It’s a chugging romp, and you can tell the band is having a blast with this one. Bonus #1: this one has an incredible chorus.
I’ve got no friends
No friends at all
People never call me
And it’s all my fault
And bonus #2: don’t neglect the all-timer song title!
Some stats & info about Pepper – Kona Town
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Reggae, Ska, Alternative Rock
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 3 out of 5 stars (!?)
- When was Kona Town released? 2002
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #288 out of 1,000
Pepper’s Kona Town on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Pepper’s Kona Town that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
I’ve been sitting on the curb in your neighborhood, looking at that streetlight thinking how I could just get one response, maybe a glance, but the system has its rules about the second chance.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.