Seriously. I only today found out they had actually broken up. I guess I just never thought to check the official site, or even look it up. How I managed not to know for so long is befuddling. It’s my FAVORITE BAND.
Chances are, you’ve heard at least one Republica song… Mitsubishi used “Ready to Go” in a really popular commercial back in the late ’90s, early 2000’s. The CD has a much cooler edit of it as the 11th track. Sadly, their second album, “Speed Ballads” never saw a US release – I keep wanting to pick it up, but I usually find myself unable to justify it financially. I really wish iTunes would just add it to the list – the band had two freaking albums. I think they can manage to carry the entire collection.
I would of course recommend picking up the first album if you’re into any sort of rock/electronica type music. These guys were more or less pioneers in this particular style of music. If you’re only going to grab a few songs, get “Ready to Go” (Beware – that video might give you an epileptic seisure), “Out of the Darkness” (Crappy fan-made music video, but at least you can hear the song), “Get Off” and “Drop Dead Gorgeous” (Slightly less epileptic warning, but it’s still there).
Sorry for the rant. Republica has a lot of significance to me – it was my first step into the world of real music after being pretty much confined to oldies and classical music for most of my childhood. (that was all I listened to up until I was about…16-17.) I’d actually had a 1-2 week semi-serious storyline planned about that album. I may still do it one day.
