Amping up the Party

Their tunes are like Zoloft, open bars and easy women -- always good for a smile.

Remember when that final recess bell rang, the one that heralded the end of the school year and the beginning of summer vacation, the one that made the kids leap from their seats like their legs were corked with bedsprings?

That's kind of what Pepper records are like.

"We just like to bring a party wherever we go," drummer Yesod Williams says from his SoCal home. "It's a release. We hope that we bring a brighter vibe to everything."

The band sounds like it escaped from some sunbaked Corona beer commercial, its catalog scented with coconut oil and evocative of long, lazy afternoons. They sound best when there's sand beneath your feet, a loose, languid beach party where Cali pop punk, vintage ska, touches of hip-hop and radio-friendly pop all gather around the same bonfire.

The band's latest disc, "Pink Crustaceans and Good Vibrations," its fifth overall, is a tropical confection, a warm-sounding amalgamation, one that Williams attributes in large part to the band's native Hawaii.

"I think all the different genres that we mix up is attributable to the fact that, being from Hawaii, it's such a melting pot," Williams says. "There are so many different styles of music, different races, different kinds of food, different cultures in general. That just completely shines through in our music."

The sound is an organic one, fostered by the band's surroundings.

Williams first cut his teeth on metal heavyweights such as Pantera, Slayer and Metallica -- and a hard-rock crunch is palpable in Pepper's repertoire at times -- but his tastes were broadened by the soundtrack of the band's hometown of Kailua-Kona.

"All the concerts we'd get, it was strictly reggae -- UB40, Yellowman, Shaggy," Williams says. "The reggae is always going to shine through because that's the most popular music in Hawaii. There's even a hybrid of it called Jawaiian music, which is more of an old-school reggae feel, with a full island influence. You hear it, and it's just tropical sounding. We grew up with that all around us."

Eventually, Pepper relocated to San Diego, and then L.A., and in the past decade, they've slowly built up their fanbase through nonstop touring. Williams says that he doesn't even unpack his bags when he gets home any more, because he's usually back on the road in a matter of weeks.

But all of it has paid dividends for this good-natured bunch, who have gone from being a side stage act on the Warped Tour to the point where they can fill amphitheaters, which they did this past summer.

And the band does particularly well in Vegas.

"We like to call Vegas the ninth Hawaiian island, because there's so many people from Hawaii there," Williams says. "We're lucky enough to have so many friends that we grew up with over there. We always try and get back as much as possible, and we definitely try and do it up there, try and make bus call as late as possible. I can only handle it for one or two nights in a row, though."

This time through, Pepper is playing X-Fest, an outdoor music event spread out over six blocks downtown in the Fremont East Arts District. The band will join an eclectic array of acts: Reverend Horton Heat, Kottonmouth Kings, The Vandals, Biz Markie and others.

It's a setting that suits these dudes, who don't see themselves as one of the stars of the festivities as much as eager participants.

"The bottom line is, we're just like everyone else coming to our shows," Williams says. "We always like to think of it like, we're not these guys onstage, we're just the hosts of the party."

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.