Bluphoria on Bluphoria
Written by Rachel R. Carroll
Photography by Kuba Soltysiak
Leave it to West coast natives to understand the importance of a good summer road trip album. Something raw and alive, but not quite so heady as punk; catchy enough to scream with the windows down, but not the cliche sickly-sweetness of top 40s; a reminder that rock and roll isn't dead and never was. Thankfully, Nashville-based alt-rock band Bluphoria is delivering exactly that with their self-titled debut record, out May 5th on UMG and Edgeout Records. Two days before the album's release, the band lit up The Mint in Los Angeles with a show to celebrate, and Unfiltered was lucky enough to catch up with them before they took the stage.
Bluphoria consists of Reign LaFreniere (lead vocals, lead guitar), Dakota Landrum (rhythm guitar), Dani Robinette (drums), and Rex Wolf (bass guitar), all of whom met in Eugene, Oregon. The four musicians are all natives of the Pacific North West. Though Bluphoria relocated to Nashville, Tennessee in early 2022, influences of the punk scenes from their hometowns still linger at the edges of their songs. The band's cross-country excursions - which include a 14-hour drive from Nashville to Austin, Texas, where they performed twice at this year's SXSW festival - are just one example of the tremendous amount of time the four friends spend with one another.
It would seem like that much exposure to the same people would eventually render them intolerable. In actuality, my experience talking to the band revealed a respectful, cohesive unit well-versed at listening to each other. From my very first question, they were clearly all eager to jump in with answers, yet were quick to defer to one another and apologize for accidental interruptions. So it didn't shock me that when I asked their favorite thing about performing with one another, they all mentioned that thing which every band needs and none can force: chemistry.
"We really feed off each other," said Robinette. "Our connections are really strong. We had really good chemistry from the get-go."
The importance of collaboration in Bluphoria's creative process became even clearer when I asked about "Walk Through the Fire", the second single off their upcoming album. The track came out in October, and the band had mentioned it to me as a turning point in their sound.
"With that specific song, that was one where we all found separate parts that actually uplifted other parts of the song," explained Landrum. "I feel like some [of our earlier] songs are a little cluttered, and that’s why we had to work on them a bunch, but that song, as soon as we had written it, it all kind of felt like it had worked."
LaFreniere agreed, and added that another part of the reason this song had been such a transitional track for them was because they had written it during the pandemic. During quarantine, he reflected, "we were able to get away from the live house show feel and were able to iron out how we were going to sound and who we were going to be." The band, which had previously gravitated towards power chords and a nearly-punk feel, started to experiment with open chords and other elements outside their comfort zones. "We figured out how different parts make a greater whole."
This much is made obvious from the myriad of influences which can be heard on the record, ranging from Bob Marley to Alice in Chains to The Velvet Underground. The album springs to life with its lead single and first track "Set Me Up". Instantly, a throbbing electric guitar and bold, wind-swept vocals land listeners in an atmosphere of raucous ocean waves and scorching SoCal sun. The song achieves the crucial work of announcing a sort of sonic thesis for the project to follow: playful, powerful, bright.
Other stand out songs include "Columbia", a dark and gritty portrait of a femme fatale, and "Guide Me", a hazy, steel guitar-fueled ode to the power of leaning on loved ones and taking it easy. "City lights, they blind my eyes," LaFreniere sings on the track, "but I'm just a Black boy tryna get his cash right." The ease with which Bluphoria bounces between these moments speaks to the wide range of musical strengths each band member had a chance to lean into.
Building off of one another's energy is also a big part of their live performances. Wolf grinned as he put it very plainly: "We really like to get up in each other’s faces and rock out together and jump around and go crazy."
That much proved true when it came time for their set. Each band member brought their own distinctive energy to the stage, with each coalescing into a singular seamless performance. Bluphoria weren’t the only ones feeling the chemistry they had talked so extensively about; everyone else in the room was clearly influenced by it as well. Although The Mint is a venue largely filled with dining space, concert-goers still found room to dance along to Wolf's ensnaring bass lines, Landrum's hypnotic guitar, and Robinette's rib-rattling drums. When it came time for "Ain't Got Me", a pleading rock ballad which showcases the soulful depth and range of LaFreniere's voice, he flipped his guitar around so that he could play it behind his back, and then - after another flip - with his teeth. The crowd’s cheers underscoring the song's triumphant peak was one of the evening's biggest highlights. Even though a good portion of the audience seemed familiar with the band's work, Bluphoria still closed the evening with two covers, giving everyone the chance to end the night with a rousing sing-along of Kings of Leon's "Sex on Fire'' and what I believe was the greatest rendition of the Beatles' "Don't Let Me Down" that I've ever heard.
As the show started to wrap up, I could hear the excited and awed titters of listeners making their way out into a rare cloudy Los Angeles evening. It was apparent that Bluphoria had a clear understanding of exactly the energy its listeners were hungry for. While trying to pigeonhole Bluphoria into any one genre is to set oneself up for failure, there is certainly a major through-line in all their music: it's a full-body experience. When I asked what one thing they would tell everyone who listens to their album, I had barely gotten the question out of my mouth before LaFreniere's response was fully formed, soft but sure: "Boost the bass.”