Pros: The Figgs' 10th album will please fans of The Replacements, Elvis Costello and The Jam.
Cons: None.
The Bottom Line: On their 10th album, The Figgs show genuine maturity in both lyrics and music. Fans of The Replacements, Elvis Costello and The Jam will live this one.
Don_Krider's Full Review: Follow Jean Through the Sea * by The Figgs
The Figgs 2006 CD release Follow Jean Through The Sea rocks hard with a sound that is akin to The Replacements and late '60s Rolling Stones, with musical tips of the hat to Elvis Costello, John Lennon and The Jam.
They are the darlings of the rock press. Their Slow Charm CD in 2002 was named one of the Rolling Stone Critics' Top Albums Of 2002, and The New York Times has hailed them for molding "influences from punk to country into smart, melodic and unpredictable rock and roll."
Even Billboard magazine has praised them as "one of America's best kept rock and roll secrets."
If your listening is confined to Top 40 radio, you may not have heard of The Figgs, however, but they are hardly new on the pop music scene, having formed in Saratoga, New York, in 1987 while the band's members were in their early teens.
As they approach their 20th anniversary as a band, the band members are still all in the 30's. They've previously released nine full-length albums and a string of other recordings.
The Figgs have been on major labels, but on this release they've gone the independent route via the Gern Blandsten label with their self-produced 10th album, Follow Jean Through The Sea, which was released in November of 2006.
The Figgs
The Figgs are a power trio featuring drummer Pete Hayes and two members of The Candy Butchers, bassist Pete Donnelly and guitarist Mike Gent. They have a modern rock sound with more than a hint of New Wave and power pop influences.
You may have seen Donnelly and Gent in their other gig with The Candy Butchers on late night shows hosted by Conan O'Brien or Carson Daly over the years as well.
For the past 10 years, The Figgs have also been visible as Graham Parker's backing band on record (including playing on three of his live albums and one of his studio long-players) and on tour (including opening for U2).
Long-time Figgs' fan and supporter Tommy Stinson (the famed bassist of The Replacements and Guns 'n' Roses, who played on The Figgs' 2004 double CD Palais) had The Figgs back him on stage, as well, during his 2003 tour.
This CD
Follow Jean Through The Sea is a 10-song wonder to hear, with a total running time of 32 minutes and 36 seconds.
The Figgs produced this CD themselves for the Gern Blandsten label and their tight playing as a three-piece unit has produced as fine a rock album as I've heard all year.
The 10 tracks: Breaking Through These Gates, Regional Hits, Don't Hurt Me Again, Follow Jean Through The Sea, City Loft Home, Jumping Again, Let Me Hold You, Hobble Skirt (In Erie), I Won't Go To Miami and Chasing After Words.
The music
Follow Jean Through The Sea opens with the Rolling Stones-inspired (think Street Fighting Man here), guitar-driven rocker, Breaking Through These Gates, which is full of pulsating bass rhythms and some Kieth Moon-ish drum bashing.
It's on The Figgs' lyrics on Regional Hits that you grasp a bit of the band's sarcastic wit about the music industry.
The song is as much about not having that big worldwide hit ("regional hits sound so fine") as it is about the lies from music publishers seeking to steal your royalties while you play before kids dancing in local clubs who don't even know your name, all sung over an urgent-sounding rhythm section and some stabbing lead guitar licks.
On Regional Hits, the band decides they are about the music, not about having hits, and while they obviously have a desire for greater fame, they don't want to admit it ("international twits write international hits").
City Loft Home is another fine rocker, starting off with a slowly chugging bass rhythm, followed by some brightly played guitar, with the increasing pounding of the skins sounding like a racing pulsebeat.
Like Badfinger (Baby Blue) and Raspberries (Ecstasy) in the 1970s, The Figgs in 2006 are also capable of wonderful harmonies sung over a driving backbeat.
Perhaps my favorite track among several outstanding tunes here is the most power pop-ish one, Jumping Again, which features some great power chording, ringing guitar sounds and a non-stop kick-'em-in-the-butt drum kit bashing.
Jumping Again reminds me most of The Replacements (think I'll Be You here). If a song ever had Top 40 Pop written all over it, this tune about trying to stay motivated for the next show is simply delicious and worth savoring for every musical bite ("we'll be up all night to begin again"). Probably my favorite song about life on the road since Raspberries Play On three decades ago.
Another standout is Chasing After Words, which has an Elvis Costello meets Paul Weller feel to it.
Filled with a 50's doo-wop backup vocal sound (the lyric "shouldn't do that" sung over-and-over like "shooby-doo-wop" was in many a 50's tune and complete with finger snapping), Chasing After Words has a cool retro-meets-modern rock twist to it in a song about trying to collect one's thoughts about what's happening in the world ("chasing after words, couldn't pin them down").
Final thoughts
If you like The Replacements, Elvis Costello, The Jam and/or Joe Jackson, this might be an album you would enjoy.
On Follow Jean Through The Sea, The Figgs aren't out to make the best album ever made, they just want to have some fun.
Though the music is pretty darn good and the lyric-writing shows both thought and maturity, sometimes you just want to be moved by some fine rock 'n' roll played by a group of talented musicians who just love to play, which is what you get on this release.
On the web:
The official Figgs website: http://www.thefiggs.net
The Figgs official page (with clips) on myspace.Com: http://myspace.com/thefiggs
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