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Biography
The four piece features the musicianship of Graham Ulicny (vocals,guitars), Ryan Engelberger (bass), William Kennedy (keyboards), Andrew McFarland (drums) and Jace Bartet (guitar). Formed in 2008, they chose the name Reptar, after being berated for their original choice of 'Invisible Boyfriend,' instead choosing what they claim to be the second most stupid name they had ever heard.
The band built significant buzz through their energetic, dance-like electronica and psych-pop that is reminiscent of Prince, Passion Pit and Q and Not U. Having toured relentlessly for two years, the band had begun to turn heads, finding their break at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, US, receiving a rapturous response to a performance that was one of the most hyped-about of the festival.
The band signed to Vagrant Records shortly after gaining the attention of the music world, releasing their debut EP, "Oblangle Fizz Y'all" in 2011. Their debut album, "Body Faucet" followed a year later, released on May 1st, 2012. The album was produced by Ben Allen, who had previously worked with Animal Collective, Deerhunter and Washed Out, with the album being in a similar vein and sound to releases by these artists.With its jerky guitars, prominent beats and dream-like synths, they created an album full of sonic wanderlust that drew inspiration from many diverse influences, including post-punk, 80s synth-pop and psychedelia. The album reached number seven on Billboard's Heatseekers chart.
Live reviews
Reptar is a group that people know largely due to their unorthodox and energetic live shows. Their albums are definitely worth checking out as well, although they probably will not quite live up to their live performances which seem to absolutely explode with intensity. I first saw them at an extremely intimate performance at my college radio station. During the show the entire room was throwing up their hands, jumping up and down, and singing along to every word. One audience member even started to crowd surf, which in retrospect seems absolutely absurd considering that the show was held in a room smaller than my kitchen. The band are absolute jokers live. They will incessantly crack ridiculous remarks during their show which sometimes leaves the audience with the question whether or not the group takes anything serious. However it is evident from their live performance that they do take their music serious. In spite of all their renowned and renounced antics they are a very tightly niched group and are highly capable of and often do show that they are technically savvy musicians. The keyboard player William Kennedy generates some very interesting jungle/tribal synth sounds that fit right in with the rest of the bands performance. The drums alternate from a primitive sound to a complex polyrhythms. The singer Graham Ulicny's voice inflects with extremity and often brings to mind the vocal style of Animal Collective's Avey Tare. Reptar has performed at large festivals like Bonnaroo, small clubs, radio stations and even in living rooms. Wherever they perform you can anticipate that the whole audience will be joining in the excitement. Perhaps the best definition of the groups live performance can be summarized in a youtube video comment: "Hipsters on Crack".
wjmcc
Reptar had one of the best performances I've seen from them at Rough Trade last night. The energy they brought to the stage was electric, no one could help but dance and jump around awkwardly for an hour straight. Love when the band interacts with the audience as well which they did beautiful (Graham jumped down into the crowd to sing Houseboat Babies with us). Best show I've seen in NY so far. Definitely recommend
anthony-hunter-reed
Reptar took the stage and owned it. They played with power, energy and confidence. If I could draw any comparison it would be with that of the best Sugar Cubes shows I have seen. Really really great. I will definitely be looking to check out Reptar again soon as I found myself wanting more when the set ended.
roger-lopez-1
