Savage Republic

Savage Republic emerged from the 1980s Los Angeles underground as a singular entity, originally forming as Africa Corps. Led initially by Bruce Licher, the group became as famous for their aesthetic - utilizing Licher’s Independent Project Press for hand-fed letterpress artwork - as for their 'tribal-industrial' sound.

Their music is a crossroads of post-punk, industrial noise, and ethnomusicology, characterized by the use of non-traditional percussion (oil drums, metal pipes) and a 'monotone' guitar style influenced by Glenn Branca's harmonic series experiments. Throughout the 1980s, they evolved from the raw, aggressive punk of 'Tragic Figures' to the more expansive, Mediterranean-influenced atmospheres of 'Ceremonial' and 'Customs'. After a long hiatus starting in 1990, the band reformed in the 2000s, continuing to explore the intersection of political commentary and desert-psych instrumentals. They occupy a vital space in the 'art-punk' lineage, bridging the gap between the rhythmic industrialism of Einstürzende Neubauten and the guitar explorations of Sonic Youth, while maintaining a distinctively Californian sense of space and dust.