Brooklyn outfit Thee Reps make what was, at one time, called new music. That was a catch-all term for tuneage that wasn't quite jazz, wasn't classical (despite the presence of strings), and wasn't ambient. For Thee Reps, none of those labels would do a good job at describing Cryptocartography, the group's newest offering.
Numbers like "Heavy Guessing" find improvisations and patterns centered around an organ-ish figure on the keyboards, while the more playful "Espadrilles" has a Devo-like charm about its New Wave-y textures. Elsewhere, "Exit A" soars, a hook that's nearly Yacht Rock-y in its appeal anchors the circling motif of the electric piano hook.
Thee Reps -- Sam Morrison (electric piano, hand percussion), Mike McCurdy (drums), Dave Ruder (synthesizer), Andie Tanning (violin, viola), and Jeff Tobias (electric bass) -- keep things moving here. There's an energy and pep in Thee Reps' music that's quite engaging. Jeff Tobias creates more fiery music in Sunwatchers, and more contemplative in Modern Nature, but there's a liveliness here that suits his skills as a player. Similarly, the bright keyboard and synth lines are absolutely essential to the success of the cuts here, with Morrison and Ruder deserving praise there. This is lighter than what one might expect, and the boundary-pushing isn't so abrasive as to make this abstract or unwieldy. There's something here that makes me think of the best albums from The Sea and Cake, and while the sound may be a bit different, that same vibe is here.
So let's end by tagging this modern Art Rock, maybe? Whatever genre you want to shove this into, Cryptocartography by Thee Reps is highly recommended.
Cryptocartography by Thee Reps is out now. Details below.
[Photo: Aaron Siegel]