When Long Beach Dub Allstars stepped into Pepper’s Kona Town Recording studio to cut their version of Butthole Surfers’ cult hit “Pepper,” even Yesod Williams wasn’t prepared for the result. “Oh my God, seriously, they went into it,” the Pepper drummer recalls. “They spent about two days and they came out and I was so blown away.”
The track, set to appear on Pepper’s upcoming compilation Operation Irie, takes one of the strangest alt-rock hits of the ’90s and filters it through the sun-soaked, horn-heavy swagger of Long Beach Dub Allstars. For Williams, it was nothing short of a revelation. “The first thing I did was when I heard it, I had to send it to Paul Leary,” he says, referencing the Butthole Surfers guitarist and producer behind Sublime’s self-titled album, Long Beach Dub Allstars’ early recordings, and Pepper’s own sessions.
Leary’s reaction was immediate. “His first reaction was like, ‘God, Opie, boys, like can’t believe you made our song better than we made it,’” Williams says. “He was so psyched to hear it.”
READ MORE: Opie Ortiz Reveals the Sublime Connection Between Long Beach Dub Allstars and Butthole Surfers
The irony wasn’t lost on Williams: the band Pepper, covering bands that shaped them, finds themselves releasing a compilation where another group is covering the Butthole Surfers’ “Pepper.” “It was so funny that your band’s biggest song is called ‘Pepper,’” Williams says, laughing. “So yeah, I was so psyched and so, so stoked to hear when they wanted to cover that song.”
The version, he insists, doesn’t just nod to the original—it reinvents it. “Those horns they put on that version… again, just making it their own. And you hear, when you listen to that song, you hear the Long Beach Dub Allstars.”
For Williams, who grew up immersed in Warped Tour punk and ska, moments like this embody what Operation Irie is all about. “To have one of their songs on there was amazing. And then to have it covered by other absolute icons, the Long Beach Dub Allstars, was super rad. And them doing it at our studio was such an honor.”
READ MORE: Kaleo Wassman Explains Why ‘Operation Irie’ Compilation Is a ‘Beautiful Throwback’
Even after more than two decades in the scene, Williams admits he still gets starstruck. He remembers hosting an Instagram Live with Opie Ortiz of Long Beach Dub Allstars and Paul Leary together. “I was like, again, reverted back to my thirteen-year-old self, just like I can’t even believe this is happening right now. I’m in utter, just thankful disbelief, basically.”
That’s the magic that keeps Williams pushing forward. “I always tell myself that if you’re blowing your own mind, man, just keep going because that’s where you want to be.”
With Operation Irie dropping October 10th on Law Records, the Long Beach Dub Allstars’ cover of “Pepper” stands as both a tribute to the legends and a reminder of the genre-crossing creativity that fueled the original Warped Tour era. As Williams puts it, “It’s one of those moments that just takes me back to reliving all that passion and just continuing it—because that’s all we really are, just music fans first and foremost.”
