Spahn Ranch is the name of two bands:
1. An industrial group from LA Read Full Bio ↴Spahn Ranch is the name of two bands:
1. An industrial group from LA
2. A post-punk act from Detroit

The first and most well known is the Los Angeles electronic-industrial music group, formed in 1992 by Matt Green and his New York-based collaborator, Rob Morton. The group signed to Cleopatra Records. That same year, a self-titled, four-song EP with vocals supplied by Scott Franklin (later to become bassist for The Cramps), was released. In 1993, they added vocalist Athan Maroulis and recorded their debut album Collateral Damage. Their sophomore effort, The Coiled One, appeared two years later in the midst of Morton leaving the band due to creative and logistical differences. After his departure, the line-up was expanded to include Christian Death drummer David Glass, Screams for Tina guitarist Kent Bancroft, and Tubalcain drummer Harry Lewis. This offered a beginning of the fuller, more diverse, dark electro-industrial sound that Spahn Ranch would continue to pursue. By 1997 Spahn Ranch pared themselves down to a tight, three-piece unit of Green, Maroulis and Lewis.
Architecture, released in 1997, featured contributions from Killing Joke/Prong bassist Paul Raven and Rockats/Nancy Sinatra guitarist Danny B. Harvey. This album took an even more experimental appraoch to the Spahn Ranch sound, incorporating elements of drum and bass, dub and for the first time, live guitar parts. Beat Noir, in 1998, followed a similar path even further and included work with Bauhaus/Love & Rockets bassist David J.The band regularly toured throughout North America during their existence with the likes of Front Line Assembly, Front 242, Switchblade Symphony and The Electric Hellfire Club. Spahn Ranch also made a couple of European treks prior to their demise as a group in 2000. Closure was a posthumous release in 2001 of their final album recorded in 2000.

The second band was formed in Detroit, MI in 1986 and released one album in 1987 called Thickly Settled. In it's infancy, the band played in many local venues on the bill with various local bands. Quickly a strong following developed, which immediately precipitated a self titled cassette release of six tracks on the Ikthus Network label. After having missed their own billing at a show, the band was introduced to Eric Cope of Insight Records from San Francisco, CA. He offered them a contract with Insight after reviewing their cassette and video work. The band accepted and began recording their first LP, 'Thickly Settled' in California where they were welcomed by receptive audiences. 'Thickly Settled' was hailed as one of the best albums of the year by England's Underground Magazine, and also met favorable reception in the U.S.A. None of the members of Spahn Ranch had any formal music training and had not played an instrument prior to forming the group. "The sound they create is tense and raw, not polished to distract from the music itself. Drummer Odell Nails lays down a thick, almost tribal drum beat, accompanied by Hobey Echlin's bass foundation for the music. Guitarist Bradley Horowitz adds the energetic, consuming guitar melodies, changing the tunings for each song in order to make no two sets alike. Bob Sterner's vocals with a touch of folk influence, mesh with the instrumental sounds that give the finished product, intense music which envelopes and audience." Hobey Echlin later joined the band as bassist.

Antibody
Spahn Ranch Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Given viral fluid to the fourth power
Synthetic crematorium
In favor of depopulation
Cured with ropes
Red tape human shade

Crying from the ground
Do something

Man-made lake with male cut shores
Bricked a perfect circle as seen TV
The bruising frame now a shadow
Latex dream
Do something
Have to hide the leper

Between fleshy pool removed seeds
Leaning eyeliner
Left-handed view spine pull
Ghosted tables of friends
Laboratory welcome Cain
Kill your brother again
Crying from the ground

Do something
Hide the leper again

Overall Meaning

The song "Antibody" by Spahn Ranch speaks about the horrors of disease, its cure or so-called cure, and its effects on humanity. The first verse talks about giving viral fluid to the fourth power which refers to the potency of the virus. The word 'Synthetic crematorium' suggests an artificial destruction of diseased bodies than being cremated naturally. The line 'In favor of depopulation' means that some entities prefer to reduce the population selectively by controlling and administering poisonous substances like viruses. The line 'Cured with ropes' may refer to isolation, quarantine, or forced vaccination that may or may not cure the disease. 'Red tape human shade' may refer to the bureaucracy and its effects on the victims.

The second verse talks about a man-made lake with male-cut shores and a perfect circle bricked as seen on TV, referring to artificiality and conformity. The 'bruising frame now a shadow' may refer to the imprints of the disease on someone's body, and when they are cured, they are like shadows of their former selves. The 'Latex dream' suggests the artificiality of the cure. The last lines of the verse talk about hiding the leper again, suggesting that society shuns people with contagious diseases, leading to their further isolation and misery.

The lines 'Between fleshy pool removed seeds, Leaning eyeliner,' and 'Left-handed view spine pull' are challenging to interpret but suggest the result of the disease on the human body or the cure's side effects. 'Ghosted tables of friends' refers to the isolation that those with the disease forced upon them. 'Laboratory welcome Cain, Kill your brother again' refers to the Cain and Abel parable in the Bible where the brother kills his brother out of jealousy, indicating how, in society, people often kill or ostracize their fellow beings in the hopes of benefiting themselves.

Line by Line Meaning

Given viral fluid to the fourth power
Administered highly concentrated viral fluid to a subject

Synthetic crematorium
Artificial facility designed to dispose of bodies

In favor of depopulation
Supportive of reducing population size

Cured with ropes
Healed using physical restraints

Red tape human shade
Bureaucratic obstacles cast a dark shadow on humanity

Crying from the ground
Lamenting from a desperate state

Do something
Take action to address the problem

Man-made lake with male cut shores
An artificial body of water with steep, abrupt edges

Bricked a perfect circle as seen TV
Constructed a circular structure as depicted on television

The bruising frame now a shadow
A body beaten so badly it appears like a shadow

Latex dream
A surrealistic, perverse fantasy