FEATURE:
Ready to Go
Republica at Twenty-Five
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I have missed a couple…
PHOTO CREDIT: Paul Natkin/Getty Image
of big album anniversaries recently. It is hard to keep on top of them all and remember which albums are coming up that require celebration! One album that is celebrating a big anniversary this week is Republica’s self-titled debut. Friday (30th) is the twenty-fifth anniversary of one of the best debuts of the 1990s. With the amazing and electric Saffron (Samantha Marie Sprackling) leading the band, I was hooked on the album when I heard it. With the majority of the tracks written by Saffron, Tim Dorney, Andy Todd and Johnny Male, Republica is a phenomenal album with so multiple highlights. Many associate the album with two of its huge singles: Ready to Go and Drop Dead Gorgeous. These are anthemic songs that still sound fresh and bouncy after all of these years. A Deluxe Edition of the album was released on 28th February, 2020. There has been talk of a third album from Republica. Their second album, Speed Ballads, was released in 1998. It would be interesting to hear Republica put out new material. I remember female-led bands of the 1990s like Republica, Garbage (who are still releasing music), Elastica, Sleeper (who are still going today), and Hole. I think they offered something that male-fronted bands didn’t. Maybe it is a diversity or a vocal sound that gave the songs more emotional depth. The combination of edginess and accessibility on Republica is one reason why it was so popular.
It is tough and physical, yet the songs are digestible and stand up to repeated listens. Combining Alternative Rock, Pop, Electronic Rock and Trip Hop, Republica is a wonderful listen that is broad and contains incredible music. It is not only Saffron’s vocals that make the album pop and resonate. The band are kinetic, tight and powerful throughout. The track order is great too. I think the songs are in the right order. Ready to Go kicks off the album is perfectly confident fashion. Bloke, the lead single from the album, follows that; the third single, Drop Dead Gorgeous, is track six. At eleven tracks running in at just over forty-eight minutes, Republica is quite a long listen – though it never feels bloated or in need of a trim. There are a couple of reviews that I want to bring in for Republica. In their review, this is what AllMusic had to say:
“Republica essentially sound like they're stuck in 1990, when house and rave were just beginning to make their presence felt in dance-pop -- which, to more critical ears, will mean they sound dated for the mid-'90s, when jungle, drum'n'bass, ambient, and all other forms of techno were finally edging their way into the mainstream. And that argument would be relevant if Republica were attempting to work in that genre, but as their eponymous debut indicated, they had no interest in hardcore techno -- they just wanted to dance. Working with strong, accessible Hi-NRG beats and catchy choruses, the trio has a bright, energetic sound that is quite infectious when tied with the right melodies, such as on the hit singles "Ready to Go" and "Drop Dead Gorgeous." If they had more than one sound, however, Republica would be even more entertaining, but as it stands, the record is a stretch of pleasantly numbing dance-pop punctuated by two terrific singles”.
On its twenty-fifth anniversary this Friday, go and listen to Republica if you are new to it. Maybe the album was more impactful in the context of 1996. It was a time when Britpop was raging. There was so much happening away from that centre; so many interesting bands coming through. Last year, We Are Craft gave their thoughts regarding the Deluxe Edition of Republica:
“One of those ‘all killer, no filler’ albums with every track a dancefloor-enhancing banger of a tune, Republica starts strongly with the anthemic Ready to Go which has since been used extensively in every media imaginable worldwide including advertising, film and TV. The album continues with the same unapologetic vibe with Bloke which is gently mocking what it meant to be ‘a man’ in the ‘New Lad’ era. Bloke was originally released as a single in 1995 to test the waters, but only reached the lower echelons of the Top 100 pop charts, at number 85.
Following Bloke quite aptly is the track Bitch which is unashamedly ‘I want, I want, I want!’ Get Off and Picture Me lead very nicely into midway through the album. Drop Dead Gorgeous chronicles the dubious morals of an ex but justifying it by the fact that he is ‘drop dead gorgeous’. It was a massive hit for the band, reaching Number 7 in the UK Charts. I remember, that at the time it was being played EVERYWHERE and it hit the Top 40 in Europe most notably in Germany, Ireland, Holland, Sweden and Switzerland as well as chart positions in New Zealand and America. It is interesting that the track got nowhere in Australia, bombing at Number 131 of their charts. There’s no accounting for taste as, in my opinion, it’s a brilliant track full of life, joy and attitude.
The album progresses with Out of the Darkness, which is a trancy-vibed track with balls. This song was Republica’s debut single originally entitled Out of this World, which was later re-worked into the album track Into the Darkness. In its original form, this track received its first radio airplay courtesy of the much-missed legend of the alternative music scene at Radio 1, namely the inimitable John Peel.
The angst continues with Wrapp and Don’t You Ever, then ends on a high with Holly which could have easily been another single for Republica. The rest of CD1 includes some bonus tracks and radio edits. CD2 offers some extended remixes and alternative mixes of sings from the album and CD3 contains more ‘club based’ remixes from the likes of The Chemical Brothers. Across the three CDs there are in fact 32 bonus tracks”.
I shall finish off there. Republica is one of my favourite albums of the 1990s. Twenty-five years on from its release, I can put the album on and pick up something new. The singles still have plenty of life and appeal, though it is the deeper cuts that come to the surface – Picture Me and Out of Darkness are a couple of songs that do not get a lot of radio focus. Happy twenty-fifth anniversary to the mighty debut from the Berkshire-formed band. I do hope that we have not heard the last from them. Reaching number four in the U.K. album chart and possessing the top-ten single, Drop Dead Gorgeous, the amazing Republica introduced a band…
WITH real intent.