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Jun 28, 2022 Web Exclusive By Hays Davis

There wasn’t anything quite like Savage Republic’s Tragic Figures at the time of its 1982 release. With their tribal drumming, scorch-fuzz guitar, and spoken/shouted/chanted vocals, lines could be traced from Savage Republic to Public Image Limited, Krautrock, and the industrial clangor of Einstürzende Neubauten, but Tragic Figures presented the California quartet as startlingly unique. With the album bound in Independent Project Records’ letterpress printing, a cover photo of rebels being executed in Kurdistan, and its title in red lettering that roughly translated “tragic figures” into Arabic, it was an arresting package overall.

The Expanded 40th Anniversary Edition presents the album remastered from the original master tapes, with the CD and LP versions both offering an extra disc of largely unreleased early recordings as Africa Corps. Liner notes provide a history of the band and extensive recording details, including a look at director Jonathan Demme’s use of the track “Real Men” in his film The Silence of the Lambs (he later turned to another Savage Republic tune in his remake of The Manchurian Candidate). Forty years on, Tragic Figures is as hypnotic and fascinating as ever. (www.realgonemusic.com)

Author rating: 7.5/10