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Good Morning!
Today we’re listening to “Reptile” by The Church
The rock and roll universe is full of weird combinations. Mashups, collaborations, and more. So it was par for the course that an Australian rock band came to LA to record a record produced by none other than Waddy Wachtel & Greg Ladanyi. You know Wachtel’s work as a guitarist, even if you don’t think you do— trust me on this one.
For being in LA, the sessions weren’t exactly easy- lead singer Steve Kilbey has described them as grueling.
"It was Australian hippies versus West Coast guys who know the way they like to do things. We were a bit more undisciplined than they would have liked…The Church came to L.A. and really reacted against the place because none of us liked it. I hated where I was living. I hated driving this horrible little red car around on the wrong side of the road. I hate that there's no one walking on the streets and I missed my home. All the billboards, conversations I'd overhear, TV shows, everything that was happening to us was going into the music.”
Out of the strife came Starfish, the band’s fifth record. For a group feeling the constraint of life in SoCal, the record is brighter and more straightforward than their previous work was. This is the record that gave us “Under The Milky Way” and “Reptile,” a minor hit in its own right.
For what is, in theory, a pop record, the lyrics have some pretty deep themes. Kilbey says, “These lyrics are constructed out of questions for the fabric of love and fear, temptation and creation, our eternal quest for meaning…This all goes far beyond any simple neo-psychedelic explanation, this is an atmospheric journey into the depth of not only the mind, but the soul.” Okay, then.
Reptile’s no exception, with lines like:
Go now, you've been set free
Another month or so you'll be poisoning me
With your lovely smile
I see you slither away with your skin and your tail
Your flickering tongue and your rattling scales
Like a real reptile
Either way, the public loved it. Taking a gamble on both their sound and production paid off for the band, and sent them into an orbit of brief stardom.
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Reptile was up next, and it’s one of the band’s catchiest tunes, powered by an irresistible serpentine riff, throbbing bass and skittering percussion (from former drummer Richard Ploog). Kilbey’s silken croon is in fine form as he spins a tale of a cruel lover (I see you slither away with your skin and your tail/Your flickering tongue and your rattling scales).
Read the rest of the retrospective here.
Listen:
“Reptile” by The Church| Starfish, 1988
Click the record to listen on your platform of choice.
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this track!
Thanks for being here,
Kevin—
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The entire “Starfish” album is a classic I’ll never, ever tire of. I’ve loved it since it was first released.
What a great song! Just the mention and it is stuck on repeat in my head ☮️