Savage Republic is pleased to share the official video for their single "Stingray" featured on their album Meteora out May 20 in North America via Mobilization Recordings (order). On the song Savage Republic's Ethan Port says, "Tapping into the energy of our local surf break, 'Stingray' echoes 'eastern' cinematic surf inspirations from our 1986 Ceremonial album, but more ferociously - capturing the sonic complexity and power of the current lineup." "Stingray" will be on all streaming platforms on Friday for any playlist shares.
Hailing from the Los Angeles underground of the 1980's, Savage Republic forged an astonishing reputation for themselves as art-post punk-industrial pioneers. Throughout the 1980s, their five albums combined with their legendary live performances blurred and distorted the boundaries of post-punk, industrial, and soundtrack music - all wrapped up beautifully in Bruce Licher's innovative graphic design.
After 1989, the Republic went quiet. 13 years passed before they would briefly resurface for a US reunion tour in support of the reissue of their five studio albums and related singles on CD. Thom Fuhrmann, Ethan Port, and Greg Grunke revived the band in 2005, and in 2006 they added drummer extraordinaire Alan Waddington to the fold. This lineup released the full length
1938 LP on Neurot Recordings (2007) and a pounding tribal cover of The Cure's "Hanging Garden" on a compilation CD included in the French magazine Fear Drop #14 (2008).
In 2009, Savage Republic decided to raise their game. With the departure of Greg Grunke, multi-instrumentalist and recording engineer Kerry Dowling joined the band and they've never looked back since! The current four-piece line up (Thom Fuhrmann, Ethan Port, Kerry Dowling, and Alan Waddington) has taken the band's discography to a whole new level with their bombastic live performances. Touring Europe regularly, they have created a live set that never lets the audience catch a breath - four musicians in their 40's, 50's, and 60's playing with the passion and energy of bands 1/3 their ages.
This longest running lineup of the band have released the full length albums
Varvakios (2012) and
Aegean (2014), and singles "1938"/"Taranto" - on Italian label "A Silent Place" (2009), "God and Guns"/"Tranquilo" (2018), and "1938"/"Siam" (2019) - recorded by Steve Albini at Electrical Audio during their Midwest Trek tour and capturing more of the raw energy this lineup unleashes in the live setting.
Meteora features some of Savage Republic's best work yet. Self-recorded in a secret cavernous location, their mix of tribal textures, political anthems and Morricone-esque surf instrumentals once again transport the listener to faraway lands at turns both haunting and beautiful. One of many highlights of
Meteora is the pandemic inspired piece "Unprecedented" (gifted to the band by Wire's Graham Lewis) that is sure to become a staple in their set list. This longest-lasting lineup of Savage Republic have infused all the power of their legendary live performances into a cinematic sonic dreamscape.
Over the decades, Savage Republic has performed with or collaborated with similar like-minded artists including Blaine L. Reininger of Tuxedomoon, Einstürzende Neubauten, Flipper, David Yow, Camper Van Beethoven, The Dream Syndicate, Psi-Com, 100 Flowers, Kommunity FK, Christian Death, Sonic Youth, Live Skull, members of Big Black, The Minutemen, Fugazi, the Buzzcocks, and Graham Lewis of Wire.
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