Algiers is an American post-punk band from

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, Georgia, United States, formed in 2012. The band consists of multi-instrumentalists Franklin James Fisher, Ryan Mahan, Lee Tesche, and

Matt Tong Matthew Chee Hung Tong (born 29 April 1979) is a British musician from Bournemouth, England. He is best known as the drummer of Bloc Party from 2002 to 2013 and has been a member of Algiers since 2015. Early life Tong was born in Bournemouth, ...

. Algiers pulls from a divergent number of musical (and nonmusical) influences; the most notable of which being

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

Southern Gothic Southern Gothic is an artistic subgenre of Gothic fiction, fiction, Popular music, music, Gothic film, film, theatre, and television that are heavily influenced by Gothic fiction, Gothic elements and the Southern United States, American South. ...

literature, and the concept of the Other. Their sound has been described as

dystopian A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmenta ...

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

due to its somber mood, afrofolk inspired vocal approach, and heavy emphasis on atonal textures.

History

Fisher, Mahan, and Tesche (of the experimental band

Lyonnais The Lyonnais (, ) is a historical province of France which owes its name to the city of Lyon. The geographical area known as the ''Lyonnais'' became part of the Kingdom of Burgundy after the division of the Carolingian Empire. The disintegra ...

) met and grew up playing music together in

, Georgia, but officially formed in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 2012 with the release of their first single. They chose the name

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

in reference to Gillo Pontecorvo's 1966 film, ''

The Battle of Algiers ''The Battle of Algiers'' (; ) is a 1966 Italian-Algerian war film co-written and directed by Gillo Pontecorvo. It is based on action undertaken by rebels during the Algerian War (1954–1962) against the French government in North Africa, the ...

'', and a key historical site of anti-colonial struggle, symbolizing a contested space where violence, racism, resistance, and religion commingle. Their live show has been described as "recalling at various points PIL's dub-style expansions,

Afrobeat Afrobeat (also known as Afrofunk) is a West African music genre, fusing influences from Nigerian (such as Yoruba) and Ghanaian (such as highlife) music, with American funk, jazz, and soul influences. With a focus on chanted vocals, complex i ...

, industrial,

no wave No wave was an avant-garde music genre and visual art scene that emerged in the late 1970s in Downtown New York City. The term was a pun based on the rejection of commercial new wave music. Reacting against punk rock's recycling of rock and r ...

free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

Suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

, the

XTC XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (vocals, guitars) and Colin Moulding (vocals, bass), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing ...

of "Travels in Nihilon,"

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian musician, writer, and actor who fronts the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Known for his baritone voice, Cave's music is characterised by emotional intensity, a wide variety ...

's fire and brimstone, and

musique concrète Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic ...

2012–2016: Formation and debut album

The group released their first single "Blood" in January 2012 via Atlanta based label Double Phantom.

Byron Coley Byron Coley is an American music critic who wrote prominently for '' Forced Exposure'' magazine in the 1980s, from the fifth issue until the magazine ceased publication in 1993. Prior to ''Forced Exposure'', he wrote for '' New York Rocker'', '' ...

for

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...

wrote: "Although the fusion may have been touched upon in recordings related to both The Birthday Party and

The Gun Club The Gun Club were an American post-punk band from Los Angeles that existed from 1979 to 1996. Created and led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce, they were notable as one of the first bands in the punk rock subculture to i ...

, Algiers are dedicated to grafting gospel music onto

guitar-scuzz...this record is mesmerising and really sucks you in with its weird power." The band's self-titled debut album was released through

Matador A bullfighter or matador () is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter, and describe all the performers in the activ ...

on June 2, 2015. Ahead of their eponymous release, the band opened for

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

, during their North American Tour. Matt Tong, formerly of

Bloc Party Bloc Party are an English Rock music, rock band that was formed in London, England, London in 1999 by co-founders Kele Okereke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, sampler) and Russell Lissack (lead guitar). Their first four albums all featur ...

, began playing drums for Algiers at this time. In the spring of the following year, the band premiered and toured the Eastern US screening the sixth installment of

Brendan Canty Brendan John Canty (born March 9, 1966) is an American musician, composer, producer and filmmaker, best known as the drummer for the band Fugazi (band), Fugazi. In 2007, ''Stylus Magazine'' ranked Canty at No. 29 on the list of "50 Greatest R ...

Fugazi Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They were noted for their style-transc ...

and Christoph Green's '' Burn to Shine'' film series. Burn to Shine Atlanta was curated by Lee Tesche of Algiers and filmed in the summer of 2007. This was followed by a live installation with renowned Japanese flower artist Makoto Azuma that saw the band performing in the Californian desert underneath a palm tree suspended in mid air.

2017–2021: ''The Underside of Power'', ''There Is No Year'' and collaborations

On June 23, 2017, Algiers released their second studio album, '' The Underside of Power'', to universal critical acclaim. The album was produced by

Adrian Utley Adrian Francis Utley (born 27 April 1957) is an English musician, record producer, and a member of the band Portishead.Jurek, ThomAdrian Utley Biography, Allmusic. Retrieved 31 December 2016 Career Born in Northampton,Mejia, Paula (2015)In Sea ...

of Portishead and Ali Chant and mixed by

Randall Dunn Randall Dunn is an American record producer, audio engineer, composer, and musician. As a music producer, he has worked with artists and filmmakers including Danny Elfman, Jim Jarmusch, Panos Cosmatos, Nathan Fielder, Benny Safdie, Guillermo De ...

. This coincided with a European stadium tour that found the band opening up for

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...

and remixing the lead single from their '' Spirit'' album. At the same time, it was revealed that Algiers had also been working in the studio with

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol, England, by Robert Del Naja, Robert "3D" Del Naja, Daddy G, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Tricky (musician), Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew Vowles, Andrew "Mushroom" ...

and were releasing an experimental tape and zine series. Much of 2018 saw the band on the road with

Young Fathers Young Fathers are a Scottish Progressive rap, progressive hip hop group formed in Edinburgh in 2008. Their second EP, ''Tape Two'' (2013), won the Scottish Album of the Year Award. In 2014, they won the Barclaycard Mercury Prize, Mercury Prize ...

, a DIY tour with Downtown Boys, and a special set at the

Black Cat A black cat is a Cat, domestic cat with black fur. They may be a specific Purebred, breed, or a common domestic cat of no particular or mixed breed. Most black cats have golden iris (anatomy), irises due to their high melanin pigment content. Bl ...

25th anniversary party. In the lead up to their next album, the band released the critically acclaimed, explosive,

single, ''"Can the Sub_Bass Speak?"'' Their third full-length album for Matador, '' There Is No Year'', followed on January 17, 2020. On February 1, the band made their network television debut performing "Dispossession" on

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night news satire, news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Stephen Colbert, Spartin ...

. Post-release, members of the band traveled to

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

for the first time and met with Algerian Independence fighter

Saadi Yacef Saâdi Yacef (; 20 January 1928 – 10 September 2021) was an Algerian revolutionary, politician and actor. A prominent figure during the Algerian War, he served as a leader of the National Liberation Front. He was a Senator in Algeria's Counc ...

. His memoirs, ''Souvenirs de la Bataille d'Alger'', served as the basis for

Gillo Pontecorvo Gilberto Pontecorvo (; 19 November 1919 – 12 October 2006) was an Italian filmmaker associated with the political cinema movement of the 1960s and 1970s. He is best known for directing the landmark war docudrama '' The Battle of Algiers'' (19 ...

's film ''

'', which Yacef helped produce, and was one of the inspirations for the band's name. This marked a frenzied period of activity and collaboration for the group beginning with their featured appearance on Massive Attack's '' Eutopia'' audiovisual EP alongside

Christiana Figueres Karen Christiana Figueres Olsen (born 7 August 1956) is a Costa Rican diplomat who has led national, international and multilateral policy negotiations. She was appointed Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNF ...

; the release of "Cleveland 20/20" a 50-minute expansion and re-imagining of their song "Cleveland" in the wake of the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests, riots, and demonstrations against police brutality that began in Minneapolis in the United States on May 26, 2020. The protests and civil unrest began in Minneapolis as Reactions to the mu ...

; Fisher's guest feature on

Billy Woods Billy Woods (born 1978) is an American rapper based in New York. He is the founder of the record label Backwoodz Studioz, and has been a member of Armand Hammer, Super Chron Flight Brothers, and The Reavers. Early life Billy Woods was born in W ...

and

Moor Mother Camae Ayewa, (born November 19, 1981) better known by her stage name Moor Mother, is an American poet, musician, and activist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is one half of the collective Black Quantum Futurism, along with Rasheedah Phillip ...

's ''BRASS'' album; Mahan's first solo outing as Dead Meat; as well as Tesche and Mahan releasing two albums as the award-winning multimedia collaboration, Nun Gun, with visual artist Brad Feuerhelm. Nun Gun's debut release, '' Mondo Decay'', pairs a book of Feuerhelm's photography with an accompanying original soundtrack cassette that features guest contributions from Mark Stewart of

The Pop Group The Pop Group are an English rock band formed in Bristol in 1977 by vocalist Mark Stewart, guitarist John Waddington, bassist Simon Underwood, guitarist/saxophonist Gareth Sager, and drummer Bruce Smith. Their work in the late 1970s crossed ...

Adrian Sherwood Adrian Maxwell Sherwood (born 20 January 1958) is an English record producer specialising in the genre of dub music. He has created a distinctive production style based on the application of dub effects and dub mixing techniques to other forms ...

ONO ONO, Ono or Ōno may refer to: Places Fiji * Ono Island (Fiji) Israel * Kiryat Ono * Ono, Benjamin, ancient site Italy * Ono San Pietro Ivory Coast * Ono, Ivory Coast, a village in Comoé District Japan * Ōno Castle, Fukuoka * ...

, Mourning BLKstar, artists Luiza Prado and Farbod Kokabi, as well as authors

Blake Butler John David Blake Butler (22 October 1924 – 15 April 1981) was an English actor best known for his role as the lecherous chief librarian Mr. Wainwright during the first and third series of ''Last of the Summer Wine'' in 1973 and 1976 respect ...

, Michael Salu, and

Sohail Daulatzai ) Lambda Velorum (λ Velorum, abbreviated Lambda Vel, λ Vel), officially named Suhail , is a star in the southern constellation of Vela. With a mean apparent visual magnitude of 2.21, this is the third-brightest star in the constella ...

. Nun Gun released the Mark Stewart focused LP, '' Stealth Empire (In Dub)'', in April 2021. This would be one of the last recordings of Mark Stewart before his death.

2022–present: ''Shook'' vs ''Shook World''

On September 13, 2022, Algiers released the single "Bite Back" featuring the rappers

and

Backxwash Ashanti Mutinta, known professionally as Backxwash, is a Zambian-Canadians, Canadian rapper and record producer based in Montreal, Quebec. She is most noted for her 2020 album ''God Has Nothing to Do with This Leave Him Out of It'', which won the ...

, their first new music in over two years. They quickly followed it up with the blistering single, "Irreversible Damage", which featured a rare verse from

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to Rage) was an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1991. It consisted of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim ...

Zack de la Rocha Zacharias Manuel de la Rocha (born January 12, 1970) is an American musician, rapper, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Rage Against the Machine. Through both Rage Against ...

, his only recorded appearance outside of

Run the Jewels Run the Jewels, also known by the initials RTJ, is an American hip-hop Supergroup (music), superduo, composed of Brooklyn-based rapper and producer El-P and Atlanta-based rapper Killer Mike. They released their critically acclaimed Run the Jewe ...

in over a decade. It was announced that their fourth album, '' Shook'', would be released the following February. In January 2023, King Vision Ultra released the unannounced Algiers-hosted mixtape, '' Shook World'', which melds together samples from Algiers's ''Shook'' album with snippets from a personal archive of cassettes originally sourced from outlets like

Kim's Video and Music Kim's Video and Music was a video and music retail store in Manhattan, New York City; the retailer was described as the "go-to place for rare selections," and was "widely known among the cognoscenti of new, experimental and esoteric music and film ...

and mixtape purveyors Tape Kingz back in the '90s, plus personal phone field recordings and voice memos. The companion album featured guests include

Elucid Elucid (often stylized as E L U C I D), is an American rapper and record producer from New York City. He has been a member of Armand Hammer, Cult Favorite, Lessondary, Nostrum Grocers, and Small Bills. Early life Elucid was born in Jamaica, Que ...

(Billy Woods' partner from

Armand Hammer Armand Hammer (May 21, 1898 – December 10, 1990) was an American businessman and philanthropist. The son of a Russian Empire-born communist activist, Hammer trained as a physician before beginning his career in trade with the newly estab ...

Company Flow Company Flow was an American hip hop trio from Brooklyn, New York City, consisting of Bigg Jus, El-P and Mr. Len. The group was at one time associated with the independent record label Rawkus Records. Rapper/ producer El-P and DJ/producer ...

Bigg Jus Justin Ingleton, better known by his stage name Bigg Jus, is an American rapper and record producer. He was a member of Company Flow along with El-P and Mr. Len. He is also one half of the duo Nephlim Modulation Systems with Orko Eloheim. Histo ...

, Dreamcrusher, LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs,

Matana Roberts Matana Roberts (born 1975) is an American sound experimentalist, visual artist, jazz saxophonist and clarinetist, composer and improviser based in New York City. They have previously been a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creati ...

, Nakama., Desde, Rena Anakwe, Marcus, Lord Kayso, Harlem Boog, DJ Haram, Dis Fig, maassai, amani, No Land, with additional field recordings courtesy of Taja Cheek (

L'Rain Taja Cheek, known professionally as L'Rain, is an American experimentalist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and curator known primarily as the lead vocalist and songwriter of her eponymous band. L'Rain has been recognized for experimental music ...

) and Ara Kim, with Franklin James Fisher of Algiers hosting. Several weeks prior, King Vision Ultra and Algiers previewed the two albums by playing them live as part of a

sound clash A sound clash is a musical competition where crew members from opposing sound systems pit their skills against each other. Sound clashes take place in a variety of venues, both indoors and outdoors, and primarily feature reggae and dancehall music. ...

at Brooklyn's

National Sawdust National Sawdust is a nonprofit music producer and Music venue, venue in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York with the goal of providing "composers and musicians across genres... a setting where they are given unprecedented support and critical re ...

, billed as "Shook vs Shook World". The all-star lineup of special guests included amani,

Big Rube Ruben Bailey (born September 27, 1969, Atlanta, Georgia), professionally known by his stage name Big Rube, is an American spoken word artist, rapper and hip hop producer. He is a first-generation member of the Dungeon Family and of Society of ...

, Billy Woods, DeForrest Brown Jr., Desde, Dreamcrusher, Elucid, Fatboi Sharif, King Vision Ultra, Latoya Kent, maassai, Mark Cisneros, and Patrick Shiroishi. On February 24, 2023, Algiers released their fourth studio album, '' Shook''. It was preceded by the single "I Can’t Stand It!" featuring

Samuel T. Herring Samuel Thompson Herring (born April 13, 1984), also known as Hemlock Ernst, is an American singer, rapper and actor based in Baltimore, Maryland. He is best known as the frontman of the synth-pop band Future Islands, with whom he has recorded sev ...

from

Future Islands Future Islands is an American synth-pop band based in Baltimore, Maryland, comprising Gerrit Welmers (keyboards and programming), William Cashion (bass, acoustic and electric guitars), Samuel T. Herring (lyrics and vocals), and Michael Lowry (pe ...

and Jae Matthews from Boy Harsher. Dante Foley began playing drums on a second drum set for Algiers live sets during this time.

Members

* Franklin James Fisher – vocals, guitars, piano, cello, percussion, sampler, synthesizers * Ryan Mahan – bass guitar, synthesizers, piano, percussion,

drum programming Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices and computer software, such as sequencers and workstations or hardware synthesizers, sampler and sequencers, to generate sounds of musical instruments. These mu ...

, backing vocals * Lee Tesche – guitar, percussion, saxophone, synthesizers, backing vocals *

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, backing vocals

Discography

Albums

Mixtapes, EPs and Miscellaneous

Singles

* "Blood" / "Black Eunuch" (2012, Double Phantom Records) * "Walk Like A Panther / Walk Like A Panther (Uniform Remix)" (2017,

) * "Blood" / "Black Eunuch" (2017, Geographic North) * "Can The Sub_Bass Speak?" (2019,

) * "Void" (2019, Adult Swim Singles Club). * "Can the Sub_Bass Speak? b/w It All Comes Around Again" (2020) * "Bite Back" (featuring

and

) (2022,

) * "Irreversible Damage" (featuring

) (2022,

)

Remixes

* Liars – "Black Eunuch (Liars Remix)" (2015,

) *Uniform – "Walk Like A Panther (Uniform Remix)" (2017,

) * Gaika – "Cleveland (Gaika Remix / Spectacular Empire Dub)" (2017,

) *

– "Where's The Revolution (Algiers Remix)" & "Where's The Revolution (Algiers Click Farm Remix)" from ''Spirit (Remixes)'' (2017, Columbia) *

Prurient Ian Dominick Fernow is an American experimental music, experimental musician, poet and multimedia artist. He is best known for extreme music released under the stage name Prurient, as well as numerous other aliases including Vatican Shadow, Rain ...

– "Death March (Prurient Remix)" (2017,

) *Soviet Soviet – "Ghost (Algiers Remix)" from ''Ghost (EP)'' (2020
Copyu Records
*Kaufmann Frust – "Armee mit tausend Köpfen (Algiers Remix)" *Ganser – "Told You So (Algiers Remix)" from ''Look At The Sun''

Music videos

References

External links

Band website

Algiers Official YouTube
{{Authority control Alternative rock groups from Georgia (U.S. state) Indie rock musical groups from Georgia (U.S. state) 2012 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Matador Records artists Musical trios from Georgia (U.S. state) Musical groups established in 2012 Musical groups from Atlanta American political music groups