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Reptiel (Photo courtesy: Ryan Wilsie)
I have never come across a band that described its sound as “Yacht Psych” but that’s exactly what the San Francisco band, Reptiel, has done. A pseudo-descriptive term that fits only so far as to hook potential listeners who might be enticed to give them a try but with the specific intention of figuring out what the hell Yacht Psych sounds like. For the record, Reptiel is a collection of SF musicians who have all been members of other bands that might also be lumped into the Yacht Psych genre: Thee Druggles, Thee More Shallows, and The Cubby Creatures.
I’m a curious person so I was willing to investigate the notion. Let me tell you it hasn’t been easy to put this review together. Words have consistently defied my attempts. So I’ve had their self-released, self-titled debut in heavy rotation for the last month trying to come up with descriptors of my own. If I am forced to make comparisons to other bands or categorize them in any one genre, which is the first impulse of any music reviewer, I’d say Reptiel’s sound vaguely reminds me of Jefferson Airplane and The Yardbirds mixed strangely with Captain & Tennille. Don’t ask me why about that last act but the electric piano cords in Muscrat Love somehow became lodged in my brain after a few listens. When I first heard the opening track, Galacticus Paradise, I immediately thought of the Eastern Indian sitar player, Ravi Shankar. Then I thought it would have made a great theme song for Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits. There is no sitar played on this track but somehow the arrangement and vocals screamed “burn incense and listen to sitar music.”
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