Imago (1994)
It took a day longer than I expected to get back online and ready to write about records again. The new house is nice, but I'd be lying if I were to say it isn't pretty chaotic right now. The bulk of my records are still packed up in boxes, so it's going to be a little tricky to get reviews done this week. Luckily, I did receive one record in the mail during the move, and it's one I'm pretty darn familiar with.
I had first heard of The Figgs when I picked up a 7" of the song "Step Back, Let's Go Pop." I think it was a promo single that I got for a dollar or something like that. It made me pick up the album it came from, Low-Fi at Society High. "Step Back" is the lead of track on the album and it really sets the stage for what is to come. Loud, crunchy guitars, building chord progressions, tight and punchy drumming and strong and catchy vocal melodies. While that sentence really exhausts my collection of adjectives, it really is the best way to sum up what a dynamic and easy to listen to pop rock band The Figgs are.
I've had this on CD forever, but it took a while to grab the LP at a decent price. I've had my eye on it for a while and a reasonably priced copy finally showed up on Discogs and I decided it was time to finally add the vinyl version to the collection.
I've had this on CD forever, but it took a while to grab the LP at a decent price. I've had my eye on it for a while and a reasonably priced copy finally showed up on Discogs and I decided it was time to finally add the vinyl version to the collection.
The Figgs have been going for ages and they have a bunch of records out that I'm just not as familiar with. Low-Fi and their 1996 follow up, Banda Macho are the only records of theirs that I ended up owning. I probably should dig a bit deeper into their discography, but I've got a lot of other records to unpack first.
The Figgs - "Step Back, Let's Go Pop":
The Figgs - "Favorite Shirt":
This is their best record hands down in my personal opinion. I was a little late to the party on it but still spin it regularly.
ReplyDeleteI feel they did their best work backing Graham Parker live!
ReplyDeleteAs with most bands, The Figgs' main issue is consisten songwriting. Graham's involvement takes care of that issue, and the band comes alive bringing life to Graham's wonderful back-catalogue. Here's a perfect example; The Figgs backing Graham for this scathing attack on his former record label, Mercury.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=15&v=VYiYFoPGjWw