If you are a regular viewer of Late Night with Conan O'Brien or the Jon Stewart Show, then you have certainly seen them. For all those avid readers of the national music publication Spin, you've caught their profile within its glossy covers.
If you don't know who the "them" is, then head out to Collis Common Ground this Saturday evening for the 8:00 p.m. performance of The Figgs, a feisty, up-and-coming band brought to Dartmouth through the Programming Board.
With an album scheduled for release on Capitol records this spring and seven solid years of touring behind them, The Figgs are ready and rearing to jump into the mainstream music scene.
As this four man band grew out of their Saratoga Springs, New York, roots and earned a strong following in the Northeast, they have steadily built up a following of listeners that treck after the group from performance to performance.
In 1987 the group first formed under the name The Sonic Undertones.
The original members - Mike Gent (guitar/vocals), Pete Donnelly (bass/vocals), and Guy Lyons (lead guitar) - have since filled the drummer's seat with Pete Hayes.
Their 1994 debut album "Low-Fi at Society High" was produced by Don Gehman, who also produced REM's "Life's Rich Pageant" and John Cougar Mellencamp's "Scarecrow".
After touring with The Cranberries last year and playing shows at popular clubs like CBGB's and The Knitting Factory in New York City, The Figgs caught the attention of Capitol Records, who will release their newest album this spring.
Bringing the same bouncing, drilling energy to their music as Green Day, Capitol is looking for great things from this band.
Their music blends two distinctive elements: a vibrant energy and a comically tragic tone in their lyrics. Since the median age of The Figgs is a juvenile 23, their boyish enthusiasm still radiates into their quick, strong beat.
The influence of such legendary artists as Elvis Costello, The Clash, Joe Jackson and Graham Parker can be detected in their repertoire of original tunes which bear witness to the continuing influence of the punk rock scene that rose out of London in the late seventies.
The "Angry Young Men" image of these performers penetrate the work of The Figgs, who seem to do everything with a reckless attitude and a small smirk to boot.
Donnelly, the group's bassist, writes the crisp, melodramatic lyrics for The Figgs. In "Wasted Pretty," Gent sings the drawn-out, melancholic refrain, "She's pretty/I'm wasted/pretty wasted on you" over and over to convey the teenage angst of young, disappointed love battling to see through the drug and alcohol haze that accompanies the process of sorting through life's big questions.
The group shows its commitment to experimentation by using 3/4 time in "Waltz for Bob." "Itchy, kinetic, and utterly unforgettable" seem to be the overriding descriptives for this up-and-coming band that will grace Collis with their youthful energy and sense of tragic humor.
Admission to the concert is free.
