LIMITED to 300 copies, already out of print, this is a 4 x CD box set includes all 4 reissues, "Tragic Figures", "Ceremonial/Trudge", "Jamahiriya Democratique", & "Customs" in specially designed, hand letterpressed wraparound sleeve by SR founder Bruce Licher from Independent Project Press. Like Einsturzende Neubauten, Savage Republic became known for their desolate scrap metal percussion and confrontational performance strategies, and thankfully there's plenty of evidence for those sorts of dark energies on this album. Savage Republic came together as the Africa Corps at UCLA in 1981. Two years earlier, band-leader-to-be Bruce Licher's discovery of the No Wave scene, and specifically DNA, led to his deciding to finally pick up a guitar after having been a huge Ventures fan all through high school. There is a coincidence here with my last article in that the No Wave scene had heavily shaped the Gun Club guitarist Kid Congo's view of his instrument. Like Kid, most of the players in Savage Republic were more interested in soundmaking than conventional technique. To quote later member Thom F 'When I think of SR, I don't think of musicians. I think of soundmakers. I had only been playing bass one year when I joined SR (and it showed). Musicianship isn't everything. We all brought something different to the table and that's what makes SR special.