‘80s LA post-punk/industrial band Savage Republic is set to release Live in Wrocław January 7, 2023, their first live album in many years, on 23 January 2024. This multichannel live recording documents the feral power and passion of a seasoned band at its zenith, capturing not only the legendary energy of Savage Republic’s live performances but also the nuance and dynamics as they thread the needle through their 40+ year catalog of material. 

In 2022, Savage Republic released their eighth album, Meteora, via Mobilization Recordings and Gusstaff Records, and during the tour promoting this album in January 2023, the band played a concert in Wrocław, Poland, and a complete multichannel recording was made and then mixed by Kerry Dowling. It became not only a document of this route, but also a kind of summary of their entire history. 

Savage Republic member and Mobilization Recordings owner Ethan Port remarks:
“With the ‘Meteora’ LP, the band finally made an album I can listen to from beginning to end without picking up the needle, and that reflects on the cohesiveness and efficiency of this lineup. I hope this live recording has the same effect on listeners. Both ‘Meteora’ and this live album also showcase the stellar engineering and mixing by Kerry Dowling, who was able to capture the frenetic nature of this version of the band with an insider’s perspective. This longest lineup has played together for so long it’s a well-honed machine, and there’s a strong and deliberate vision, as well as a genuine and passionate personality, in the way we’ve organized, reworked, and performed the songs. I’m so proud to be part of this current lineup and to be part of this live document.”

Savage Republic’s Thom Fuhrman about the 2023 ‘Meteora’ tour:
“After every tour, there is an afterglow. The first 7-10 days after is a combination of exhaustion, joy, and waking up not knowing where the f*ck you are, wondering if you have to go to soundcheck, and then the disappointment when you realize that tour is over and there won’t be a load in, soundcheck, show, and load out tonight. I can honestly say that of the dozen European tours we’ve done, this was the most physically arduous. Yeah, we played longer tours in ’87 and ’88, but the band is much more physical on stage now, more demanding of ourselves, and frankly, a f*ck of lot better. We’ve become the Savage Republic that I always hoped we would be, but never were in the old days. I demand a lot of my bandmates, but I know that in our limited available time, we accomplish so much, and we’ve proven that time and again with this lineup since 2009. On January 5th, I woke up that morning in Belgium with a broken-down van and the prospect of having to cancel our first show in the band’s 40-year history. I told Ethan there is no f’ing way we’re not playing in Berlin that night! Ethan went into action. Organized trains, and along with promoters, found amps and drums at the very last minute. We showed up several hours late, but when we finally got there, we played one of our best shows ever.

“This story sums up this incarnation for me. I’ve said it a million times, and I’ll say it again, I wouldn’t make another Savage Republic record with any other lineup. Thank you to everyone who made this tour and the upcoming ‘Live in Wrocław’ album happen. Thanks to Luc for helping Pesha get the van back on the road. Thanks to Pesha and Camila for getting the van to Wrocław a couple of days later so we could continue. It was an odyssey, but worth every last precious exhausting second. Our fans/friends mean so much to us. It was so great to reconnect with and hug you all again…”

Physical formats include CD (full concert), black LP (over half of the concert), and a limited red vinyl with an 8-inch lathe-cut record featuring four other tracks from the concert, all co-released by Mobilization Recordings (USA) and Gusstaff Records (Poland). In addition, Mobilization Recordings will release the entire concert globally on digital platforms.

PRE-ORDERLive In Wrocław January 7, 2023HERE on Bandcamp (physical/digital) or HERE on Gusstaff Records (physical).

STREAM the track “Mobilization” from the album:

ABOUT SAVAGE REPUBLIC
Savage Republic began as a mainstay in the early 1980s Los Angeles art-punk/post-punk scene. Their innovative graphic design by Bruce Licher supported the band’s ethos of making haunting and evocative music out of time and place, blending a variety of musical styles from both eastern and western traditions into their own unique vision. 

Their eclectic sound is inspired by artists like Brian Eno, Wire, The Buzzcocks, The Fall, Joy Division, Can, and Glenn Branca. Savage Republic has performed with or collaborated with similar like-minded artists including Buzzcocks, Graham Lewis (of Wire), Kommunity FK, Christian Death, Einstürzende Neubauten, Flipper, David Yow, Camper Van Beethoven, Psi-Com (Perry Farrell), Sonic Youth, members of Big Black, The Minutemen, Fugazi, 100 Flowers, and Red Temple Spirits. 

Known for their oddly-tuned guitars, tribal beats, shouted vocals, metal percussion, and Morricone-meets-Dick Dale melodies, Savage Republic remains a trailblazer with their ever-broadening experimentation across their discography, and at the same time, they have vividly translated their sonic exploration into live performances, often playing highly unorthodox shows in remote desert locations, abandoned factories, skid-row parking lots, and grimy bars. Their shows, usually ritualistic and infused with elements like fire and explosives, are not mere concerts; they are immersive experiences. 

In 2022, Savage Republic released Meteora, their first full-length album in seven years and some of their best work to date. Self-recorded in a secret cavernous location, their mix of tribal textures, political anthems, and Morricone-esque surf instrumentals explode with sonic fury and again transport the listener to faraway lands at turns both sinister and beautiful. In addition to the worldwide release by Mobilization Recordings, Polish label Gustaff Records released a now sold-out limited lathe-cut vinyl edition and a limited lathe-cut vinyl Ukrainian benefit single that includes an alternate version of the album title track “Meteora” with vocals by Laura Mace (Foo Fighters). 

Savage Republic:
https://www.facebook.com/savagerepublicpage
https://www.instagram.com/savage.republic.official

Mobilization Recordings:
https://www.mobilization.com
https://www.facebook.com/mobilization23
https://www.instagram.com/mobilization23

Gusstaff Records:
https://gusstaff.com
https://www.facebook.com/Gusstaff.Rec