Portland band Reptaliens shares “Take It,” the third single / video from its third album, Multiverse (Captured Tracks). You can pre-order the album here – the label exclusive first pressing comes with branded rolling papers, a nod to the fact that the band members’ day job is working on an Oregon weed farm. The band has extended its winter 2022 tour dates, adding a west coast run supporting Spaceface and an appearance at the Treefort Festival.
“Come with us on a journey to find intelligent life while we dig through old footage. The truth is out there.” The band reveals
Reptaliens are ready to be direct. After exploring surreal realms of high-concept synth-pop across two acclaimed albums, the Portland, Oregon, duo found newfound clarity in a stark, grounded approach. That may seem unexpected for such a colorful act—known for heady lyrics about conspiracy theories and transhumanism—but Cole and Bambi Browning have streamlined to the lean, propulsive essentials on their self-produced new LP, Multiverse.
Shelving the dreamy synths altogether and working without their other bandmates due to lockdown, Reptaliens reset, picking up their guitars and emphasizing the catchy attack that’s been there all along. Drawing inspiration from the spontaneous energy of the ’90s alternative canon, the pair hit a surge in momentum after a casual-turned-revelatory listen to Jane’s Addiction’s 1990 classic “Been Caught Stealing.” Without even aiming to make a Reptaliens song, they wound up penning the set’s lead single “Like a Dog,” a sun-soaked groove-bomb that’s blissfully unencumbered by sonic baggage. “That really kicked it off,” Cole recalls. “It was so fast and easy and fun that we said, ‘Let’s do more like that.’”
Tell us about the genesis of your project. How did you get to where you are now?
We just never stop working and moving forward. Always looking towards the next goal and little things we want to do.
The band is pretty intertwined with all aspects of our life so it’s constantly moving and progressing in different ways.
What should a song or piece of art communicate in your opinion?
Sometimes when a song has a big effect on me it seems like you can almost reach out and touch the feelings that the artist had when it was being created. It feels like you are sharing a little piece of their emotion and I think that’s when art hits me the hardest and sticks with me forever. I love it when you really feel the song’s impact in this way.
Who were your top 3 artists last year?
I ended up listening to a ton of Faith No More last year. The album Angel Dust never gets old to me. Mike Patton is such a strange genius and I love the world he creates with his band.
Juan Waters’ Real Life Situations is perfect from start to end. no skips.
Moon Duo spent a lot of time on our speakers. Especially their latest album, Stars Are The Light. It’s just perfect driving vibes.
What do you do when you’re feeling uninspired?
We do a lot of walks and hikes with our dog, Hambone. It’s nice in Portland because there’s so many different beautiful places to see. Mt Hood, the Pacific ocean, and eastern Oregon’s desert aren’t more than an hour’s drive in different directions from our house and we definitely love to take advantage of them. Our dog hates the car, but loves the destination. You can’t help but feel inspired after getting out into nature.
What are your 2022 projects and goals?
We’re working with a Euro booker and are really excited to get Reptaliens over to Europe for the first time.
I started a zine called “Drift The Focus” that interviews friends’ bands and tells tour stories, among other things. I’m excited to continue with that and release more issues.
Favorite movie or TV show?
I really like “What we do in the shadows”. Anything Matt Berry does is always amazing. The idea of a vampire sitcom is so good, like that was probably the whole pitch for the series, and then the tv exec’s were like “I’m in!”
We also love Mandolorian. This is the way.
Tell us about your latest release and how it came about
Multiverse grew out of our rediscovery of 90’s radio rock and the desire to create our interpretation of that style of music.
We made a bunch of playlists of all of our favorite old jammers from that era and got really into it, just writing one song after another.
Before we even knew it we had enough songs for an album and Multiverse was born.
What is something you would want to change in the music and entertainment industry?
If I could, I would change touring forever by creating a super fast train that connected every city in America that took out long drives altogether
and completely revolutionized the touring scene by providing bands with quick, easy access to tons of places in a short amount of time.
Can you outline your creative process?
We’ll typically sit down in our studio with a few synths and guitars out and start to get a rough framework for a song. After we get a few base things recorded, we’ll start to add layers of melodies and sounds until there’s no more room for anything and it’s super crowded. At that point we find our favorite little details and strip the rest away. Then we work out the structure and when the song has a personality, it gives inspiration for lyrics and vocals. We love to just sit and record different sounds and play things in different ways until something really strikes us.
Who inspires your style and aesthetics?
We like shitty stick and poke tattoos and doodle sketches in notebooks and when printers are almost out of ink. We get inspired for the visual aspect of the band from everything and from everywhere. I feel like this makes us lack a really central and consistent aesthetic, but we like it that way.
What is the achievement or moment in your career you are the most proud of and why?
I think a lot about the first goals that I always wanted to achieve when I was just starting to play in bands.
I always wanted to go on a tour, or play a show that people actually came too, or put out an actual real, physical LP.
When I look back on those initial goals that felt like wild dreams, I feel happy with where we’re at.
One of my favorite moments was the first night of tour with Of Montreal. I was standing side stage watching the show and singing every lyric and it hit me like, I’m on tour with my favorite band of all time. It didn’t feel real and it was such a great moment. I think I started crying.
What do you think an artist should sing about nowadays?
whatever they want to sing about, I suppose.
I think we should bring back comedy-rock like Weird Al Yonkovic and Tenacious D. Sing about silly, dumb shit.
Do you have any regrets?
I love this question haha, too many to share here! Probably when I didn’t take Morpheus up on his offer.
What is some piece of advice you would give to yourself right now?
Get a new ink cartridge for that printer! you’re gonna need it soon
TOUR DATES:
1/24 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court *
1/25 – Denver, CO – Larimer Lounge *
1/26 – Lawrence, KS – The Bottleneck
1/27 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry *
1/28 – Chicago, IL – Beat Kitchen *
1/29 – Pontiac, MI – Pike Room *
1/30 – Cleveland, OH – Mahall’s *
2/1 – Pittsburgh, PA – Thunderbird *
2/3 – Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall *
2/4 – New York, NY – Baby’s All Right *
2/5 – Philadelphia, PA – The Foundry *
2/6 – Washington DC – Songbyrd *
2/8 – Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle *
2/9 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle *
2/10 – Atlanta, GA – Aisle 5 *
2/11 – Nashville, TN – The Basement *
2/13 – Dallas, TX – DaDa *
2/14 – Austin, TX – Empire *
2/16 – Phoenix, AZ – Rebel Lounge *
2/17 – San Diego, CA – Whistle Stop ^
2/18 – Santa Ana, CA – Constellation Room ^
2/19 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo ^
2/20 – Oakland, CA – Starline Social Club ^
2/22 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studio ^
2/23 – Seattle, WA – Substation ^
2/24 – Bellingham, WA – Boundary Bay Taproom ^
2/26 – Boise, ID – Neurolux ^
2/27 – Reno, NV – Holland Project ^
3/23 – 3/27 – Boise, ID – Treefort Music Fest
* = w/ Renata Zeiguer
^ = w/ Spaceface
