The Pepper Pots

Drawing from 1960s musical currents, the Pepper Pots formed as a Spanish pop ensemble patterned on the Ronettes, the Crystals, and similar classic pop outfits. Their expansive roster features three lead-sharing female singers—Adriana Prunell, Mercè Munné, and Marina Torres—supported by a core of male instrumentalists. Though headquartered in Girona, the group first reached abroad for sonic influences on the 2004 debut Swingin' Sixties, fusing American soul with Jamaican styles including ska and rocksteady. Shake It! arrived two years afterward. With the arrival of 2009's Now!, the Pepper Pots had shifted into full 1960s pop revival mode, discarding reggae elements in favor of a lush, vintage aesthetic shaped by Phil Spector, Motown, and Stax Records. Binky Griptite, the prominent Dap-Kings contributor who appeared on Amy Winehouse's Back to Black, helmed production. For the 2011 follow-up Train to Your Lover, the band enlisted another soul figure, collaborating with longtime Motown engineer Bob Ohisson.