We don’t know what we ever did to deserve the kind of greatness being hurled at our earholes seemingly on the regular lately but we’ll take it all! Especially when it comes in the form of Los Angeles’ own Savage Republic and their upcoming album Meteora.
Bauhaus and Wall Of Voodoo and Joy Division and VOWWS and Trent Reznor’s Lost Highway score and all the Post-Punk/Goth things that make our black heart light up is what Meteora is all about. Hell, Savage Republic has been around since the early ’80’s so it might not so much that they’re taking on all these sounds from those artists to create this dark yet delightful noise and more the other way around, save for a few. Which came first/The chicken or the egg and all that jazz you could say.
But I digress!
If you want to talk influences, one could easily see where Kittens For Christians or Viva Death got their vibes from after hearing “Nothing At All” which excitedly palpitates out a poignant political punch that’s soaked in immediacy wrapped up with a modern Post-Punk bow to open Meteora. “Stingray” is decidedly less urgent but no less definitive with the way the musicianship has expanded on this instrumental with separately intricate drum and bass lines that intersect and intertwine to blur the lines between magic and madness. On the other end of the spectrum, “God And Guns” is a sprawling jugular-grasping moody Gothic anthem that should only be played in a church or during the credits of your most favorite neo-noir Sci-Fi thriller.
“Bizerte Rolls” is the one that most resembles Wall Of Voodoo as it kind of conjures up the feel of their classic Call Of The West record in a succinct, jangly/twangly six-minute instrumental package. This one was queued up as a morning alarm for a spell but it was deemed “too scary” by Mrs RNRF at 6 in the AM so we’ll take that as another accolade/badge of honor to heap upon this song and album as well.
The title track ushers in all the early New Order and I Love You But I’ve Chosen Death feels with the way it shuffles and sashays about and then “Unprecedented” is built around a spoken word diatribe that is accented with a haunting cry just beyond the mortal realm while “Boca del Vaca” mixes a variety of styles for a sort of musical melting pot that urgently sways. Concluding Meteora with a six and a half instrumental that’s the weirdest and wildest trip of all, “Ghostlight” takes listeners on one final journey that’s equally drab and dreamy.
Meteora descends on the masses on May 20th via Mobilization Recordings. You can get yer pre-order on now by heading here and for the latest on Savage Republic, follow them across the information superhighway by clicking here, or here.