Written by Jenine Clancy
Houseboat Babies – Reptar (Free Download)
Reptar, the synth-infused, pop band from Athens, Georgia, are doing something shocking: creating a buzz with virtually little, or no help from the Internet. I caught their opening performance for Young the Giant in April, and the band managed to achieve the brilliant but rare occurrence of matching up to the talent of the main act. I was surprised, though, when I searched for the band online and found very few articles written and a Myspace/Facebook presence that hadn’t been updated since 2006. So, one must wonder: “how, in an age of tweets and 24/7 news has this band slipped under the radar, yet is playing festivals like SXSW and Lollapalooza?” Simple: they are that good.
Combining West African rhythms, electronic-dance melodies and haunting samples (in an ode to their name, listen for the Nicktoons-esque voice in “Houseboat Babies”) lead singer Graham Ulicny, keyboardist William Kennedy, bassist Ryan Engelberger and drummer Andrew Mcfarland do the best they can to create a good time. Ulicny, who looks 17 and weighs about 140 pounds, has the voice and stage presence of someone twice his size, snapping his syncopated, over-annunciated words over the new wave/reggae tone. Mcfarland, using the instruction he received in Brazil, has no difficulty in constantly changing the time signatures constantly. At a live show, Kennedy’s stage presence is what riles the audience up, putting them into a trance while he bounces back-and-forth like a rubber band.
The lack of Internet presence could be attributed to the origins of the band. Since the beginning, these southern boys had little time to themselves. Casually playing in high school, they became serious right before heading off to their respective colleges: Engelberger attends Dartmouth, McFarland and Kennedy attend UGA and Ulicny, attends UNC Asheville.
The band had a lucky encounter when Ben Allen (of Animal Collective), caught a show in Georgia. He is now producing their yet-to-be titled full-length, which is set to come out this summer. If you catch them on tour in the next couple months, you’ll be sure to witness confetti, blow-up dolls and nuclear suits…Reptar is a band you don’t want to miss.
