Gregory Pepper & His Problems
With Trumpets Flaring
Fake Four Inc., 2009
By Jake Shenker
Gregory Pepper is deceitful. The newest record from this Guelph, Ontario-born multi-instrumentalist is not an indie-rock record, as its press release made it out to be; With Trumpets Flaring is a bizarre trip through time, cobbling together doo-wop, jazz, vaudeville, and rock into a delightfully trippy — and magnificent — musical journey.
Despite its misleading (read: deceitful) “band” title, this brilliant record was made by a single man — although the concept of Gregory Pepper’s problems as his band-mates conjures up an alarmingly appropriate image, considering the music. The record opens with a brief snippet of the catchiest accordion riff ever recorded, before launching into the neo-disco groove of “7ths and 3rds”, an anthem about Pepper’s evident distaste for pop music. This evasive opening track moves back and forth between the opening disco groove and a driving, rock-infused chorus — a transition which somehow happens seamlessly, as if the two sounds were meant to exist side-by-side.
Next, the album delivers “I Was a John”, a dramatic piano number reminiscent of Hawksley Workman’s earlier, more eccentric music. Pepper spends the rest of his opus swiftly moving through styles and influences, from the Brian Wilson-inspired group vocals of “It Must Be True”, through the accessible indie-rock flavor of “Drop the Plot” and the solemn piano ballad, “Built a Boat”. The record ends with the unambiguously titled “Outro”, a minute-long piano tune played on an old, slightly out-of-tune piano — a perfect, relaxing finale for the turbulent ride the listener has just been on.
With Trumpets Flaring is not an easy record to digest. Its songs are complex — no cheap hooks here — and diverse enough to avoid simple genre classifications. But once you open your mind to Pepper’s unique style, the depth of his eccentrically-arranged songs become not just accessible, but stunning.
