WRGW Presents: Reptar, Live at Sixth and I Synagogue

reptar

Here comes Reptar! He’s big! He’s Green! Nothing stands in his way! He’s Reptar! And this time, he means business!

These are the first words ever spoken about Reptar.  Though The Rugrats may have come before this 4-piece dancerock indie wizards, the quote still rings true for the Athens, GA boys.   Nothing stands in the way of this band and their ultimate goal—to make you dance.  And they mean business

Reptar released their first EP, Oblangle Fizz Y’all, in August of 2011.  They then played at Lollapalooza a few days later.  They weren’t new to festivals, however; they had played at SXSW in that March, and were afterwards feature on NME Radar.  “Buzzworthy” doesn’t quite seem to do the band justice—Google “Reptar” and you’ll see at least a dozen interviews, videos, and blog posts about these Athenians.  That’s quite a feat for a group of friends with one 5-song EP.

So why the hype?  Reptar is making the kind of songs we didn’t know we were waiting for.  Imagine a cocktail—equal parts Animal Collective (extremely appropriate, as the group’s album was produced by AC’s Ben Allen), Joywave and Talking Heads.  Add a splash of Passion Pit and a twist of MGMT and you’ve got Reptar.  They’re not just making dance music, electronica, or the all-encompassing “Indie Rock” music.  It’s more slippery than that.  Oblangle Fizz Y’all’s first track, “Blastoff,” starts with a sort of battle chant, which gets the listener in the appropriate mindset:  Get Ready. It has undeniable post-punk influences, like a Talking Heads B-side you’ve never heard before.  And it only gets better.  “Context Clues,” which has the most complicated arrangement on the album, surprises you with a trumpet solo following an 8-bit breakdown. The final track, “Phonetics,” erupts; it is an almost 6-minute long romp, tying up all the loose ends of the album into a compact, succinct conclusion of post-adolescent freedom: “Pent up, my self-expression is absolving me / Of all the bad things that I used to be.”

How appropriate, then, it is for Reptar to be performing for college audiences—Specifically, at Washington, DC’s Sixth & I Historic Synagogue on March 24th.  Reptar will be headlining this WRGW -sponsored concert that will also host DC locals Red Line Graffiti. This show is guaranteed to be a fantastic time. Get your tickets HERE and mark your calendars, folks.  There will be dancing. We mean business.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-nw95A1_kA]

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