#bruce licher

4/17/26.

Over the course of the next few day (and possibly weeks), you might see some posts related to records I recently bought. I don't go record shopping as much as I used to. First, record stores are really expensive. But probably more important, they don't carry a lot of the music I listen to on Bandcamp. As you're probably aware, I spend my "allowance" on Bandcamp.

This last time out I found the 2nd Party Boys album - "No Aggro". This was their 1984 release for Bruce Licher's (Savage Republic) Independent Project Records. I always love albums from this label. The packaging is of the highest quality. And of course, it doesn't hurt that my first memory of the label is its release of Camper van Beethoven "Telephone Free Landslide Victory".

One of the members of Party Boys was Marnie Weber (Los Angeles, California/Milford, Connecticut). Just recently, British label Phantom Limb released "Returning Home: The Music of Marnie Weber". After Party Boys, Weber continued making music but focused on visual art as well.

Read the Bandcamp notes for this release and you'll realize the Weber has lived a life where her music and visual art have floated in and out of one another. Meeting Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore at one of her exhibitions led to a release on Moore's label. Working for Licher's label introduced her to bands 17 Pygmies and White Glove Test.

2024, to birthday BRUCE LICHER The notorious Los Angeles-based post-punk legends Savage Republic, originally named Africa Corps formed in the early 1980s by four college students obsessed with music .

I remember that the first "strangest" albums out of the box that I bought were SAVAGE REPUBLIC ( Tragic Figures

1982) in addition to UK DECAY ( Post-Punk, Gothic Rock, Deathrock, Art Punk) FLYING LIZARDS, THE STUMP, etc....

THEY ARE ONE OF THE MOST UNDERRATED BANDS, without a doubt

Formed 1980, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Bruce Licher was the founding member of the band, including the mid-1990s instrumental post-rock band Scenic.

His life revolves around music and records as he’s also the owner and founder of Independent Project Records. Savage Republic’s visceral, cathartic blend of punk, surf rock, industrial music, psychedelia, soundtracks and Middle Eastern nods would have no imitators.

It did prove eye-opening for many: the recently released reissue of Savage Republic’s debut ‘Tragic Figures’ features fond memories and homages from friends and peers that were irretrievably struck by this proudly unique band, from Kendra Smith and Michael Stipe to Mike Watt and Nels Cline.

When Savage Republic first got together, comprising UCLA students Bruce Licher, Mark Erskine, Philip Drucker (aka Jackson Del Rey) and Jeff Long, their favored practice space was one-of-a-kind, too. By then still calling themselves Africa Corps, they used to tune in and let loose in the concrete parking structures of their campus.

Initially starting as Africa Corps, Savage Republic were formed in 1980 by Bruce Licher (guitar) and Mark Erskine (percussion), with Jackson Del Rey (guitar) and Jeff Long (bass) soon joining in.

Licher was a student at UCLA, and was inspired to buy a guitar after hearing the No New York album (with DNA and Mars particularly making a big impression on him), and quickly formed Neef. He met Erskine during a course at UCLA, and he soon invited him to attend sessions of Neef.