In the mid-eighties, Los Angeles became the stage for a specific underground scene involving various groups dedicated to different alchemy of sounds between dark post-punk, experimentation, psychedelia, avant-garde, and ethno-rock.

Of this musical movement, which had major representatives like Red Temple Spirits, Shiva Burlesque (later Grant Lee Buffalo), Drowning Pool, and 17 Pygmies, the undisputed leaders were Savage Republic, led by Bruce Licher (guitar). Formed in 1980 by Licher, Phil Drucker (aka Jackson Del Rey, percussion), and Mark Erskine (drums, percussion), both UCLA students, they initially adopted the name Africa Corps.

With the addition of Jeff Long (bass and former Wasted Youth, a Los Angeles hardcore band), they recorded their first LP "Tragic Figures" (1982) for the Independent Project Records owned by Licher himself. The group's initial sound was mainly based on the obsessive and hypnotic use of percussion, an experimental tribalism very close to the contemporary works of Test Department and Einstürzende Neubauten.

Soon after being abandoned by Long but with the addition of Robert Loveless (keyboards), who would later form 17 Pygmies with Drucker, they recorded various tracks for a second album that would never see the light of day. With the recruitment of Greg Grunke (guitar), Thom Fuhrmann (bass), and Ethan Port (percussion), momentarily without Loveless (who would rejoin for "Ceremonial") and Drucker busy with their new project, they released the EP "Trudge" (Play It Again Sam, 1985), marking the beginning of Savage Republic’s musical shift, evocative even from the cover. The industrial noise of the beginnings made way for long instrumental compositions where tribal dances, ethnic sounds, and psychedelia intertwine perfectly in a sort of avant-garde world music.

The next step "Ceremonial" (Independent Project 1986, later reissued on CD in 2002 with the addition of "Trudge") is the band's masterpiece and one of the most original and fascinating albums of the '80s. It picks up where it was left off but with less chaotic and more subdued music, sometimes dreamy, almost new age but without forgoing the rhythmic incisiveness of percussion abandoned only on "Mediterranean" (for the more "traditional" mandolin and dulcimer). The title itself perfectly symbolizes the state of spiritual pathos that flows (and in which we are engulfed) throughout the album's length.

After the 1987 European tour and the albums "Jamahiriya" (Fundamental, 1988) and "Customs" (Fundamental, 1989), both still interesting works closely tied to their early sound, the band disbanded definitively in 1989.

The legacy of the inventors of Californian trance-rock will be carried on by bands like Neurosis and Godspeed You Black Emperor!.

 

 

 

Tracklist and Videos

01   Trudge (07:16)

02   Trek (08:21)

03   Siege (04:21)

04   Assembly (04:43)

05   Valetta (03:31)

06   Andelusia (05:40)

07   Walking Backwards (03:44)

08   1000 Days (03:35)

09   Mediterranea (03:49)

10   Dionysius (02:46)

11   Ceremonial (06:23)

12   Year of Exile (09:31)

13   Land of Delusion (02:23)

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