Reptile House - Listen to the Powersoul (1988, Merkin)

Reptile House slithered out of Baltimore, MD, circa the mid-80s and boasted enough visibility and talent for Dischord Records to take notice, who consequently released the band's debut ep, I Stumble As the Crow Flies in 1985.  A fine record, sporting a quartet of four inspired and emotive post-hardcore salvos with well placed melodic undercurrents.  They waited three years for the follow-up, and given the tendencies of any young and fledgling artist, Reptile House had evolved significantly from those promising rumblings.  I'm just not sure if they traversed in a more preferable direction.  The songs on ...Powersoul are considerably lengthier - not necessarily a negative development in itself, but frontman Daniel Lindenstruth brings a shoutier vocal parlance to table this time (loosely in the vein of Die Kreuzen) that doesn't always flatter what his band seems to be attempting, especially on the eight-minute concluding piece, "Sky Head."  Reptile's aesthetic is varied here, but despite the occasional lack of focus they manage to land some memorable moments like "ParaPolyAnna," the title track, and the ornately poetic and verbose "Mother Michigan" all of which benefit from some measure of tuneful persuasion.  Members of R/H later found themselves in the lineups of more prominent combos ranging form Glenn Danzig's Samhain, Distorted Pony and Lungfish.

01. Power Soul
02. Ike's Hammer
03. Evil Iron Any Day Now
04. ParaPolyAnna
05. Engine
06. Mother Michigan
07. Sky Head

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