Biography
Reptaliens, the Portland indie group, weave unconventional influences into breezy and accessible pop forms. Married songwriters Bambi and Cole Browning first composed material that examined romance and relationships via a pronounced sci-fi perspective, weaving in motifs such as alien abductions and other uncanny subjects within their distorted meditations on affection and yearning. Those ideas surfaced through a sleek yet somewhat homemade sonic approach on the 2017 debut FM-2030, later shifting toward art-damaged synth pop on Valis in 2019 and a stripped-back rock configuration on Multiverse in 2022.
Bambi and Cole Browning had each taken part in Portland’s independent music community for several years before they met and married soon afterward. The pair casually developed songs inspired by Philip K. Dick novels, Gary Wilson’s eccentric jazz mutations, and Broadcast’s smooth directness. The pieces coalesced once guitarist Julian Kowalski and drummer Tyler Verigin joined, converting the bedroom project into a full band. Reptaliens signed with Captured Tracks and released the “Prequel”/“Olive Boy” single in 2017 ahead of FM-2030. The group spent much of that year and the next touring with STRFKR, Cults, and Of Montreal, earning attention for their extravagant, prop-laden stage productions.
Reptaliens delivered their second album, Valis, in 2019. While preserving the band’s relaxed texture, the record turned to more personal themes than the cosmic alien dreamscapes of its predecessor. Work on the third album Multiverse began during the earliest stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Bambi and Cole writing the songs in the initial lockdown and performing as the only musicians. Multiverse moved away from the group’s customary interstellar synth-pop framework toward direct guitar-bass-drums instrumentation, yet retained the otherworldly strangeness that had surfaced across all prior Reptaliens releases.
Bambi and Cole Browning had each taken part in Portland’s independent music community for several years before they met and married soon afterward. The pair casually developed songs inspired by Philip K. Dick novels, Gary Wilson’s eccentric jazz mutations, and Broadcast’s smooth directness. The pieces coalesced once guitarist Julian Kowalski and drummer Tyler Verigin joined, converting the bedroom project into a full band. Reptaliens signed with Captured Tracks and released the “Prequel”/“Olive Boy” single in 2017 ahead of FM-2030. The group spent much of that year and the next touring with STRFKR, Cults, and Of Montreal, earning attention for their extravagant, prop-laden stage productions.
Reptaliens delivered their second album, Valis, in 2019. While preserving the band’s relaxed texture, the record turned to more personal themes than the cosmic alien dreamscapes of its predecessor. Work on the third album Multiverse began during the earliest stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Bambi and Cole writing the songs in the initial lockdown and performing as the only musicians. Multiverse moved away from the group’s customary interstellar synth-pop framework toward direct guitar-bass-drums instrumentation, yet retained the otherworldly strangeness that had surfaced across all prior Reptaliens releases.
Albums
Singles
