Pep Squad -- Yreka Bakery

8/10

Pep Squad's second and final full length of original material starts off with a borderline metal riff. The vocalist even sounds a little bit menacing. Then, barely more than a minute into the song, those poppy, wordless "oh, oh, oh, oh, ohs" squiggle out of the speakers. This is a Pep Squad album.
Yrecka Bakery is one of the best palindromes ever, and also an album that could only be created by the band Pep Squad. Is it pop-rock, is it punk rock, is it indie-rock, is it noise rock, is it disco, should we kill it with fire, or should we let it into our homes and have peppermint tea with it? It is Pep Squad, slightly more matured since their first effort, in that they can present a straight, gentle, beautiful version of of 2 Timothy 4 in "On That Day," or a whimsical, yet strangely emotional instrumental in "Black and Blue," or a charming song where the only lyric is "Time's slowly grooving my feet, it's a beat." Also, there's "The Floor," the aforementioned disco song that is played as straight as disco can be played, if indeed Pep Squad can play it straight. Then there are the high-energy songs that the band's name brings to mind.
There's so much here. Those who like their music to be tidy will not like this. Those who like their music to be cool will not like this. Those who like their music to be sung by individuals who can make the final ten on "The Voice" will not like this. Everybody else, though...you might like this...you might like this a lot.
If you like your music to have character, you might like this. If you like your music to be unpredictable, you might like this. If you like your music to have energy and be fun, you might like this. If you like your music to have attitude, you might like this. I had more "You might like this" references in the first draft, but it got to be a little much, so I toned it down for this final one.
I'll just end it by what is obvious in the score up above: I like this a lot ola si hte kili!


1999 BEC Recordings
1.  Wild Pack 2:34
2.  Freak Show 2:10
3.  Friend or Foe (Adam Ant cover)  3:37
4.  On That Day 4:32
5.  The Fabulous Moola 4:15
6.  Black and Blue 2:23
7.  It's a No 2:49
8.  A Beat 3:30
9.  Erik's (Got A) Girlfriend 3:40
10.  Kandigram 2:05
11.  The Floor 3:18
12.  Birds and Fleas 6:18