To kick off 2016 in high style, Popdose proudly premieres the latest video from one of our favorite bands. Ideal listening for fans of New Order, Echo & The Bunnymen and The Postal Service.
There are plenty of original new wave acts (typically with at least one original member and loads of spare parts) riding nostalgia circuit. Beyond New Order, a handful, like Duran Duran, OMD and Blancmange, have found a way to recapture their magic with compelling new music (see my Unintentionally Retro Top Albums of 2015). Even fewer NEW bands have been able to tap into that signature sound with original music that looks back and still moves forward. Among them, Repeater of Long Beach, California. Their self-titled album made the Top 10 of the Best Albums of 2014.
Repeater’s music might be close to impossible to find on Amazon or Google — type in the name and you need to wade through a crap load of electronics — but it’s worth seeking out. Repeater the album gets better and better with every listen. Big melodies with dark undertones. Shiny synths and shimmering guitars with the right amount of bite. I could easily embed all ten tracks as the “must listen” from the LP but will settle here for the two videos below and a personal favorite from the album:
Here in 2016, Repeater is finally getting a limited run on vinyl. This 100-unit project is pressed by All Welcome Records, mastered by Pete Lyman at Infrasonic, and self-released under the imprints of Analog Records, A Diamond Heart Production, and Repeater. Jackets are hand-assembled. Get em while they’re hot (only $15) right here. The spine of the album lists the title as RPTR03, which makes me think RPTR would make for a more easily searchable band name — hey, it worked for MGMT.
And now for the big event: the world premiere of the video for ‘Never Forget’, the latest single from Repeater. Play it on a loop during your next party to turn your TV into a museum-quality video installation. In the clip, a cascading blend of David Lynch’ian lip sync and atmospheric shots come to life with changing colors inspired by Picasso’s Blue Period and the field paintings of Mark Rothko. Lead Repeater, Steve Krolikowski, tells us that ‘Never Forget’ is a song of “emotional closure, but also one of rich memories too bright to shut out despite their painful associations”. Co-starring co-vocalist Tess Shapiro, the song’s textured sound is anchored by an alluring rhythmic vibe caught somewhere between Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Fire’ and Fischerspooner’s version of Wire’s ‘The 15th‘.
It’s hard to believe two years have passed since the band launched the single, ‘Lonely’, with a shot-for-shot homage to New Order’s classic ‘Perfect Kiss’ video:
A few months prior to this, Popdose premiered the track, check it out here and be sure to connect with Repeater on facebook. Not into vinyl? Pick up a digital copy of Repeater on Amazon or find it easily by typing “Repeater” into iTunes.
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