On Sunday, Jan. 23, a diehard crew of about 70 Utah 20somethings made their way to the Lo-Fi Caf to see headlining band Pepper play some homegrown Hawaiian reggae-punk.

The band has grown weary of being compared to Sublime, but that really is

the best way to describe this trio from Kona, Hawaii.

The party/surf lyrics, the punk rock breakdowns, and the reggae dub-beat effects make the comparison unavoidable.

Pepper’s style on stage is unmistakably Hawaiian.

The bassist wears only surf shorts and the guitarist wears no shoes. The feminine presence dominating the front two rows at Lo-Fi kept their eyes

riveted to the necks of the guitar and bass, screaming every time

one of the two instruments took a phallic stab at the front row.

These were definitely not normal Sunday-night antics for Salt City.

Before arriving in Utah, Pepper played a show on New Year’s Eve at Blaisdell

Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii.

“That show was huge for us. We grew up seeing Metallica, Motley Crue and Bon Jovi there in the late ’80s, so to play there ourselves is a milestone,” said Yesod Williams, Pepper’s drummer.

Honolulu to Utah is quite a long trip, but at least several thousand miles of

the journey were traversed by airplane. While touring the mainland, Pepper travels not by plane, or by tour bus, but on the “Irie Eyed Jedi,” the band’s trusty tour van.

“This is actually the third van we’ve gone through,” Yesod said. “Since March of last year, we’ve already put around 100,000 miles on it.”

And the odometer has a lot more work to do.

Following the show in Utah, Pepper will continue with their snow country tour through Colorado and Wyoming before returning to California. From there they will tour the circumfrence of the country via Texas, Florida, the East Coast, the Midwest and finally Vancouver.

Pepper will then return to their hometown in Hawaii-Kona, a place that has experienced huge development in the last five to 10 years.

“It looks like it is on its way to be the new Maui,” explains Yesod.

But does the destruction of the local scene which spawned Pepper’s style signal a change in the band’s music?

“Not even,” Yesod said. “We’ve definitely set our path, and we’re still following it, doing what feels right.”

[email protected]