Inventive, sophisticated, and fun are just three words that come to mind while listening to Reptar’s latest feat, Lurid Glow. Released this past March via Joyful Noise Recordings and recorded with Chase Park’s Andy LeMaster over the course of a year, the band’s second LP showcases the Reptar fans have come to know and love—Graham Ulicny’s unique vocals and mathematical guitar, along with the band’s intricate arrangements and dance-worthy vibes. But Lurid Glow takes all of these things a few footsteps (or dance moves) further, resulting in the group’s purest sound yet.
The 10 tracks focus on good pop, cutting out any unnecessary bluster or filler. What remains is an album that embodies the group’s growth since their 2012 debut, Body Faucet. The party is absolutely still there, bottling the now iconic energy of the band’s live shows—it’s just a more mature party, with the addition of full horn arrangements and a further devotion to melody. From a sonic standpoint, the tracks range from the anthemic first single “Ice Black Sand” to the quieter, marimba-filled “Amanda” to the more guttural vocal experimetations on tracks like “Cable.” Through meticulously thought-out transitions, the songs come together to create a complete, coherent body of work that demonstrates the band’s influences, which ranges from Talking Heads to Frank Zappa.
The album ends with “Breezy,” which feels appropriate being that Reptar’s overall attitude could be summed up with that word. But Lurid Glow takes breezy and hints at something much deeper, and, sometimes, darker. And that all has to do with growth, something Reptar has done a lot of in the past three years.
Music nerds unite, and revel in Lurid Glow.
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