Stream: Reptar, ‘Amanda’

Jordan Kleinman on November 3rd, 2015

0

Reptar’s new album “Lurid Glow” feels like the opening of an ’80s movie set in Miami; cool and laid-back, yet teeming with an energy guaranteed to be released by the time credits roll. Drawing on a number of pop pillars, the Athens, Ga., quartet utilizes unique textures, instrumentation and melodies to evoke a “dance-the-night-away” mentality layered in their sophomore album. The saxophone break in the last section of “Ice Black Sand” has one feeling like they could have been taken back to David Bowie’s 1983 “Let’s Dance” tour. The powerful vocal style of Graham Ulicny tugs at one’s inner urge to sing along in the crowd, and “Sea of Fertility” hums away with 808 toms, an epic horn section and heart-pounding rhythms.

  Unlike many other electronic-influenced acts, Reptar know when to take a moment away from the synthesized instrumentation, as in “Amanda” (a song they liked so much they’ve released an alternate version). Beginning with a sweetly plucked marimba/vibraphone intro, slowly leading into a padded mid-section, where Reptar’s electronic side presents itself again, in a mellower format, ending with an extended horn section, leaving the listener basking in the vibed-out break. The latter half of “Lurid Glow” plays off nu-disco, pairing guitar vocalizations with classic soul horn sections, smatterings of arpeggiated pads, samples, rhythms and lyrical themes. The band’s new video for “Ice Black Sand” adds some polychromatic animation to their polyrhythmic sound. As if they weren’t colorful enough.

||| Stream: “Amanda” (alternate version)