| POSTED BY: JOE PUGLISI
It's hard to label something so wacky as "pop" but it's the only way to accurately describe the way Reptar's debut Body Faucet hits you. The insanely strange voice of singer/guitarist Graham Ulicny is just the beginning of the aural exploration of the band's twisted hooks and bright, jungle-themed southern rock. It's undoubtedly fun-- the jangle of riffs mixed with Ulicny's yelp never seems to expire-- but Body Faucet also can't help but be immediately pegged as derivative of nearly every blog-bait fad from the past five years. Tropical, funny, a wacky live show, uptempo, a stupid nostalgic name, and full of more hooks than a bait shop, the comparisons almost make themselves. Luckily for the band, their attitude is their saving grace-- by naming the band the dumbest thing they could think of because "names are stupid," and by writing whatever the hell they want, they've created something fun and flighty without sounding like they're trying too hard.
Thus names like "Isoprene Bath," "Orirfice Oragami," and "Thank You Gliese 370 b" (which in more pretentious contexts would make any music fan gag) just sound like a bunch of kids messing with us, not looking to establish any sincere profundity, and it works for them. And the whole record just sounds fun, like a playful romp in the ball pit at your local Chuck E. Cheese, not worried about taxes or bills, just bobbing heads and laughing. Although Reptar may still be on the fringe of popular taste, in today's world of entertainment escapism, they're exactly the kind of band that should appeal to the larger population-- the shoot-em-up action-comedy of albums, Body Faucet is full of light-hearted banter and awesome sequences, enough to get a smile out of even the most curmudgeonly listener.
