The Figgs - Banda Macho LP

Capitol (1996)

Lo-Fi at Society High and Banda Macho by the Figgs are two albums that used to be permanent fixtures of the used CD bins in the NY and NJ area back in the 90s.  I could never figure out why as I knew quite a few people who were into them and I personally thought both records were pretty outstanding.  I imagine it's because both were on major labels and due to the excesses of the industry there were probably more promo copies than people on the planet.

I've had the CD version of this forever, but had never picked up the vinyl.  I had my eye on it for a while, keeping tabs on Discogs and eBay, but the price always ended up being way more that I had to spare at any given moment.  Then one day The Figgs threw a bunch up on their webstore.  Sealed stock from the 90s that they came across.  I went over to their store and they were all sold out.  The store had one of those 'notify me when this is back in stock' buttons and while I figured it was unlikely they would be back, I hit the button and provided my email address.

Wouldn't you know it, several weeks later I got an email saying Banda Macho was back in stock.  I immediately stopped what I was doing, went to their website and secured a copy.  This record still sounds as fun and exciting to me as it was the day I first heard it.  The way the band mixes pop punk hooks with good old fashion roan and roll sensibilities sets them apart from so many other bands.  For whatever reason, Low-Fi and Banda Macho are the only Figgs records I've ever listened to.  I know they have a ton of other records out there.  One of these days I need to dig in a little deeper.  Any recommendations on where to start?

The Figgs - "Bad Luck Sammie":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOnCEKP1q3s

The Figgs - "FTMU":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awMkBXWV_Xg

The Figgs - Low-Fi at Society High LP

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.

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":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3pWAYOvZl8

The Figgs - "Favorite Shirt":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP3Sw6JyO2Y