Pepper, Good Old War

Old 
          Pepper - Tradewinds, off of the 2002 album Kona Town.
This song makes me realize how fast time goes by. I really got into Pepper when I was in high school during a pretty strong reggae/ska/punk phase. They are a fun band and most of their songs are fast paced, ska rock, power chord type songs.  On every album they throw in a few slower ballad types, and I think Tradewinds is a good representation of their mellow Hawaiian roots.

New
          Good Old War - That's Some Dream, off of their self titled 2010 album.
These guys are from Philly but they are totally different from other 70's/80's style rock bands that the Philly/NJ area seems to pump out like Tastycakes. I don't know why, but people from Philly love hair bands. These guys sound like they should be from Cali or Minnesota or somewhere where folk music and singing about your feelings is normal. They use fairly simple chord progressions and light, upbeat guitar picking. Even when their songs have serious or sad lyrics, they play everything with an optimistic feel. It could confuse you if you didn't listen to the lyrics, but then again, I think a general message from this song, and throughout the entire album, is "you may have problems, but if you approach things with a positive outlook you'll be ok." They are coming out with their third album this summer.