My Republic

Last updated
My Republic
Good Riddance - My Republic cover.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 27, 2006 (2006-06-27)
RecordedMotor Studios, San Francisco
Genre Punk rock, pop punk, melodic hardcore
Length30:41
Label Fat Wreck Chords (FAT 707)
Producer Bill Stevenson, Jason Livermore
Good Riddance chronology
Bound by Ties of Blood and Affection
(2003)
My Republic
(2006)
Remain in Memory: The Final Show
(2008)

My Republic is the seventh studio album by the Santa Cruz, California-based hardcore punk band Good Riddance, released June 27, 2006 through Fat Wreck Chords. It marked the band's return from an almost three-year period of inactivity, during which singer and primary songwriter Russ Rankin had been active in his new band Only Crime while guitarist Luke Pabich had started a side project called Outlie. It also marked the return of drummer Sean Sellers to Good Riddance, replacing Dave Wagenschutz who had played on the band's two previous albums Symptoms of a Leveling Spirit (2001) and Bound by Ties of Blood and Affection (2003). Sellers had previously been a member of Good Riddance from 1996 to 1999, playing on A Comprehensive Guide to Moderne Rebellion (1996), Ballads from the Revolution (1998), and Operation Phoenix (1999), and had played with Pabich in Outlie during Good Riddance's hiatus.

Contents

Good Riddance had recorded their three previous albums at The Blasting Room in Fort Collins, Colorado, but for My Republic they returned to Motor Studios in San Francisco, where they had recorded 1998's Ballads from the Revolution. However, they retained the production team of Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore from The Blasting Room, who had recorded and produced all of their studio material since 1999. My Republic would prove to be Good Riddance's final studio album, as the band broke up in May 2007 before reforming five years later. It was followed by Remain in Memory: The Final Show , a live album recorded at their final performance.

Release

On May 9, 2006, My Republic was announced for release in a month's time. [1] Two days later, "Texas" was posted on the band's Myspace profile, followed by "Darkest Days" on May 23, and "Shame" on June 16. [2] [3] [4]

Reception

Corey Apar of Allmusic rated My Republic three and a half stars out of five, remarking that "[it] may be Good Riddance's seventh proper album to date, but instead of sounding tired and played out, it finds the band as fierce and commanding as it was at number one ... their furious SoCal hardcore continues to be tempered by a greater sense of melody." [5] He particularly complemented Rankin's lyrics, saying "As personal as he is politically charged, Rankin has always possessed a certain heartfelt sincerity to his articulated disillusionment that manages to ring much closer to home than, say, the vehemently militaristic rage of a band like Anti-Flag." [5] Chris Moran of Punknews.org also gave the album three and a half stars out of five, stating that "What you get with My Republic is the Good Riddance sampler platter: some harder, some melodic and some in between. The opening track, 'Out of Mind,' is the best song Bad Religion never wrote, with the exception of Russ' distinctive vocals." [6] He was critical of the album's pacing, however, with slower tracks like "Texas" and "Boise" placed immediately after more raucous songs like "Out of Mind" and "Regret", and found Rankin's vocals lacking "bite": "And thus seems to be the constant theme of the album — pick me up with some great stuff, and then let me down with some 'eh' material. Musically and lyrically (for the most part), this is some of the best music Good Riddance has ever done. Unfortunately, it's the delivery that stumbles. Russ's vocals just seem to be lacking that punch they’ve always had." [6]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Russ Rankin; all music is composed by Russ Rankin, except where noted.

No.TitleLength
1."Out of Mind"2:22
2."Texas"2:03
3."Shame"1:48
4."Tell Me Why"2:30
5."Torches and Tragedies" (Luke Pabich)1:28
6."Darkest Days"2:41
7."Up to You"1:27
8."Regret"2:17
9."Boise"3:06
10."Rise and Fall" (Pabich)1:39
11."Broken"2:31
12."Save the Children"2:07
13."This Beast Is Dangerous" (Pabich)1:47
14."Uniform"2:55
Total length:30:41

The compact disc version of the album includes enhanced CD content consisting of video footage of a three-song live performance in Santa Cruz, California from August 2005, and a PETA documentary entitled "Meet Your Meat".

Personnel

Related Research Articles

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<i>For God and Country</i> (Good Riddance album) 1995 studio album by Good Riddance

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<i>A Comprehensive Guide to Moderne Rebellion</i> 1996 studio album by Good Riddance

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Operation Phoenix is the fourth album by the Santa Cruz, California-based hardcore punk band Good Riddance, released May 4, 1999 through Fat Wreck Chords. It marked a change in recording location and production team for the band: their previous three albums had been recorded in San Francisco with producer and recording engineer Ryan Greene, but for Operation Phoenix the band traveled to Fort Collins, Colorado to record at The Blasting Room with Jason Livermore and Descendents/All members Bill Stevenson and Stephen Egerton. This marked the beginning of a long-term working relationship: Good Riddance would record all of their studio material at The Blasting Room using the same production team until 2003, when the band slipped into inactivity and singer Russ Rankin started Only Crime with Stevenson. Stevenson and Livermore would return to record and produce Good Riddance's final studio album My Republic in 2006, which was recorded in San Francisco. Rankin later commented that working with The Blasting Room team was a major turning point in recording for the band:

We did our first three albums with Ryan Greene and Ryan Greene is a great engineer and a really great guy and we learned a lot about being prepared to record ... his studio know-how was top-notch, his demeanor was top-notch, and we learned a lot, but when we decided we wanted a change, and we went to the Blasting Room, it was like...so different ... they knew what we were trying to do ... Also, the way they recorded...it was completely out of the ordinary...we'd been through the culture where you'd lay down the drums first, then you lay down the bass, then you lay down the guitars, and then you do the vocals...and we get to the Blasting Room and once the drums were done it was like, all bets are off, Chuck [Platt, bassist] would go in for a couple hours, then I would go in, then Luke [Pabich, guitarist] would go in, and we'd just be chipping away at these songs ... it was definitely a new approach for us anyway, we'd never done anything like that before...so I think that those guys really brought out the best in us, they challenged us, but they also, I think, had a really innate sense of knowing what we were trying to get done.

<i>The Phenomenon of Craving</i> 2000 EP by Good Riddance

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<i>Symptoms of a Leveling Spirit</i> 2001 studio album by Good Riddance

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<i>Ignite / Good Riddance</i> 1996 EP by Ignite and Good Riddance

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Good Riddance / Ill Repute is a split EP by the hardcore punk bands Good Riddance and Ill Repute, released in 1996 through It's Alive Records. Good Riddance's tracks were two of seven that had been demoed for their second album A Comprehensive Guide to Moderne Rebellion but had been left off the record; they were recorded in a separate session from the album, with Andy Ernst at Art of Ears, and used on split EPs with Reliance, Ignite, Ill Repute, and Ensign over the following year.

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<i>Thoughts and Prayers</i> (album) 2019 studio album by Good Riddance

Thoughts and Prayers is the ninth studio album by the Santa Cruz, California-based hardcore punk band Good Riddance, released July 19, 2019 through Fat Wreck Chords. It is the band's second studio album since their 2007 breakup and 2012 reunion. Unlike previous albums which featured some musical writing contribution from Luke Pabich and Chuck Platt, Thoughts and Prayers was solely written by frontman Russ Rankin.

References

  1. Paul, Aubin (May 9, 2006). "Fat Wreck Chords details Dead To Me, Good Riddance releases". Punknews.org. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
  2. Paul, Aubin (May 11, 2006). "Good Riddance debut new track from 'My Republic'". Punknews.org. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
  3. Paul, Aubin (May 23, 2006). "Fat debuts new Good Riddance track". Punknews.org. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
  4. August, Justin (June 16, 2006). "Fat posts 'Shame' from Good Riddance's 'My Republic'". Punknews.org. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  5. 1 2 Apar, Corey. "Review: My Republic". Allmusic . Retrieved 2010-09-04.
  6. 1 2 Moran, Chris (2006-06-30). "Review: My Republic". Punknews.org. Retrieved 2010-09-04.