09 June 2019

SAVAGE REPUBLIC


I put off digging into this band for years, knowing that it would be a decision that justifiably required a significant time commitment...and '80s Los Angeles freaks SAVAGE REPUBLIC were worth the wait. File somewhere between Confusion Is Sex, ¡TCHKUNG!, contemporary late '80s SST, early UK anarcho-punk and BEATNIGS for reference, but SAVAGE REPUBLIC exist(ed) on an island of their own making. With a discography every bit as daunting as their sonic legacy, their no rules approach to sound and song is one that defies and befuddles the casual listener. I didn't start with I Married Thurston (by chance and convenience, 1989's Customs earned my first listen), but it's among my favorites in an extensive (to say the least) collection of live and demo recordings released by the band during their run. Settle in and dig deep. 


Today marks one full decade of Terminal Escape. I know that the blog has been a passé method for the dissemination and consumption of music for some time. "Everything is on youtube" or all of the new bands are on bandcamp or "fuck it I'll just listen to whatever is on spotify" - and most of that is true and almost all of that makes sense. Because working for stuff is hard, and it takes more effort, and because you have to know where to look. Sometimes it's clunky, sometimes it's not cool, and sometimes it even sounds like shit...but some of us keep looking. Just shy of 3400 posts and uploads, another 1500 live recordings on Escape Is Terminal, and I still rip everything in house on (for now) a gorgeous 1980s Yamaha TC-520 that I bought for $80. Thanks to everyone who's sent me tapes, thanks to everyone who's left a comment here or there to let me know that people are paying attention. I figured for a while that I would stop posting when I hit the ten year mark because...I mean, that's long enough, right? But I'm looking at shelves of unripped tapes, The NUCLEAR FAMILY Live In Japan mindfuck just taunting me, a really sick CIRCLE JERKS set from '83, the EKSTRAKTION demo that flew under the radar a few years back, that new JAD recording...well, you get the idea. So I'll be back. Tomorrow. Hopefully you get something good out of it.

13 comments:

SxPxDxCx said...

I appreciate your posts. I've discovered new stuff. Re-discovered old stuff. I always find it interesting. Thanks for all the effort.

Whimpers and Bangs said...

Don't quit. This is a great blog, passe or not. Hell, punk rock has been passe for like 30 years, but that hasn't stopped anyone who actually likes it from making and listening to it. And for people who have discerning, obscure, and particular tastes, spotify sucks, while for people who enjoy listening to playlists of their own making, youtube is useless. Furthermore, all the new bands are not, in fact, on bandcamp. So please, and by all means, keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

thank YOU for not leaving :D man TE is greatest blog ever for sure

buzzcut3000 said...

Congrats on a whole dang decade and thanks for everything you do!

strikethematch said...

Thank you. I think you are neat. I appreciate you doing the lifting so I don't have to. Ten years doesn't seem as long as it once did.

Dk said...

After an unbelievable decade of 3 presidential elections, countless bands having come and gone and a sad farewell to MRR as a print medium (been reading that thing since before the dinosaurs went extinct) - you're still the first place I hit every morning with coffee in hand and the 'phones over my ears. I am grateful (and thankful) that you are still here. You're the best, man.

P.S. Hug Greg, Layla and Matt for me. I am very grateful (and thankful) for them as well.

Love,

Dk

Media Hits said...

For the fallen blogs like Cosmic Hearse, Mad Blasts (coming back this fall?), Remote Outposts (?), Opium Humm is still several times a week, a gazillion blogs dead and gone some with still working links, etc.

Anonymous said...

This blog is one of the best things on the internet. I have heard so much great new--and old--music thanks to you (not to mention your own music!) Please know how appreciated your work here is, and congrats on a decade of being awesome.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on a DECADE of posting! I have discovered so many of my now favorite bands and songs via this site and I am sincerely grateful for all the work you do. PLUS you make me seem Super Cool to fellow Mix Tape Traders who do not use the internet! Keep up the great work and THANK YOU.

Ape Mummy said...

I'm genuinely glad for everything you reminded me of and turned me onto, not to mention rekindling my love of tapes. Let's go for 20!

jason said...

about 2 years into your tenure a friend and i agreed that this is the best punk thing on the internet and it still is, hands down

warboots said...

Thanks for all of your work

Blacktooth said...

I will comment now, and I will probably comment again....
I've been along for at least 5/6 years of this 10-year ride...
I do not state that fact as a brag or "been-there" kinda bullshit...
Just saying that I keep posting dumb comments and "THANK YOUS" for the amazing and irreverent and wild-style and random musical avenues that you continue to invite me (and many others) down...
Thanks! Can't say it enough THANKS!!!!
Thanks to you and thanks to the bands and thanks to the weird labels and producers and loners and roadies and everyone keeping this weird floating world of strange sounds afloat.
I am merely an observer....or listener... whatever. Hungry ears.....
Thanks for the post!