Review: I Know Now Why You Cry - Gregory Pepper and His Problems
By Zach Zollo
Of all his problems, perhaps Gregory Pepper's biggest is putting too much on his plate. In 2017, the year he both became and lost a father, Pepper committed to completing a "Song of the Week" challenge. The songs of I Know Now Why You Cry, his 6th studio album, are what he deemed to be the best of that bunch, refining and revising them into a collection that's pristinely produced, inoffensive, and unfortunately underwhelming.
In comparison to previous work, I Know Now Why You Cry is a milder, tamer, and more orchestrated effort, akin to They Might Be Giants, Ben Folds - even the works of Ludwig Göransson. The mood and lyrics are ruminative, appropriately obsessed with life and death. While this evolution often works to Pepper's benefit, his signature sense of humor fails to land just as frequently. And although the album's songwriting is laudable, the production is so sanitized and sterile that it's almost like you're listening to a Comedy Night Done Right-era NBC sitcom's original soundtrack.
Pepper succeeds most when he harmoniously combines his meta-humor and poignancy with the appropriate instrumental. This is the case with "Unsolved Mystery," a masterfully arranged, country-and-western tinged tune that memorializes his father while asking himself "is this really who you want to be?" The song's breakdown ends with a descending minor scale, something that Pepper explicitly tells you with his tongue in his cheek. "Art Collector / Bored of the View" is another high point on the album, a baroque battle hymn with a warbling synth that sounds like it could've come off of TMBG's Flood. Pepper challenges his audience with the quip of "Night club heckler/You think you can do it better?/Then come on down," proving how his love for his art outweighs all. It's the most kinetic moment on an album lacking in them.
While the highs are earned on this record, the lows surprisingly lack self-awareness, becoming self-indulgent. Take "Who Doesn't Know." The song opens with one of the most beautifully meditative orchestrations you'll hear this year, as horns, woodwinds and marimba create the theme to a 1960s Italian romantic drama in real time. This all goes to waste, however, as Pepper frustratingly mismatches the mood with juvenile lyrics of "dudes shitting their pants" and "I'm a baby and I'm dumb." Just when you think it can't get worse, Pepper's gruff vocals send it into the dark side of Meat Loaf territory.
Its moments like these throughout the record that diminish the breakthroughs Pepper has made with his songwriting. It's unfortunate, for when it succeeds, it’s a remarkably commendable display of musicianship and provocative perspectives. When it fails, it sounds like a helicopter parent's lullaby mixtape. While I Know Now Why You Cry presents it's dichotomy with as much conviction as Pepper can deliver, the lack of execution only goes to show there may still be too much on his plate for him to sort through.
