Wild Party by Bryan Rindfuss
Wild Party came bopping out of San Antonio, Texas in the mid-2010s on a current of upbeat, danceable indie pop alongside L.A.’s Saint Motel, Cincinnati’s Walk the Moon and upstate New York’s Joywave.
It was good company and a promising start for singer Lincoln Kreifels and guitarist Lucas Hughes. They were seventh-graders making comedy rap and metal for lolz who got serious after hearing the likes of Phoenix and Passion Pit. By age 19 they were touring the U.K. as Wild Party with The Wombats. Their first LP, “Phantom Pop,” came out in 2014 and they hit the road again, now as a four-piece, for a planned year-long tour with everything looking up.
And then … crickets. “The album just wasn’t gaining a whole lot of traction,” Kreifels tells PureHoney. “I was starting a family at the time and felt some guilt for leaving them so often without making much money at all.”
Kreifels was also dealing with multiple health issues, and the band left the road in 2016. They were effectively, if not officially, disbanded. Then about four years ago, the Spotify algorithm intervened: Songs from “Phantom Pop” started picking up streams, and interest in Wild Party surged.
Just when they thought they should give it another go, Covid hit the touring economy. Separately, Kreifels’ ongoing health struggles culminated in an eight-day hospital stay. The experiences left him with another chance for himself and for Wild Party.
A six-song EP, “Get Up,” came out in February. A new full-length album — their second — is coming early next year. The band is on its first tour in seven years, and being on the road again has introduced Wild Party to an adoring fan base.
“We were always the opening band and playing to people who had never heard our music and just weren’t that interested,” Kreifels says. “To come back after seven years to rooms with 100 to 300 people with most of the audience singing along to almost every song was super amazing to see … it just made me really thankful for the detour we’ve been on.”
Wild Party, Landon Conrath and Marielle Kraft play 8pm Sunday, December 3 at Gramps in Miami. wildparty.band ~ Olivia Feldman
