Savage Republic

Figures of considerable repute within the Los Angeles post-punk community of the 1980s, Savage Republic grafted tribal percussion, industrial drones, and raga-like guitar lines together to craft an idiosyncratically moody sound with flashes of both desolation and eloquent grandeur. Capable of both harsh dissonance and shimmering textures, the band's guiding force was guitarist Bruce Licher, a founder and constant presence in their shuffling lineups. Alternating between cyclic instrumentals and quasi-industrial assaults with gruff, chanted vocals, their records were unavoidably inconsistent, but most contain some enduring highlights. Savage Republic was founded by former UCLA students Licher and drummer Mark Erskine in the early '80s. Adding new members, the group originally called themselves Africa Corps, changing the name to Savage Republic just before releasing their first record in 1982. Exotic percussion would always play a big role in Savage Republic -- even in the early days they were using oil cans, metal pipes, and 55-gallon drums. Their early singles, and their debut LP Tragic Figures (1982), show the group at their least accessible, though there are hints of the more mysterious and melodic elements to come. After some personnel changes (some members went off to form 17 Pygmies), Savage Republic regrouped with a more guitar-oriented sound. On Ceremonial (1985), the band shifted their focus to mostly instrumental material, usually piloted by oddly tuned guitars (the group sometimes used guitars with six identically tuned strings). They'd never wholly abandon those droning, angst-driven chants, though. Combined with the fact that their instrumental material wouldn't break much new ground over the course of the decade, that can make their studio albums uneven...