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[Off The Record]
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The Figgs
BADGER
(HEARBOX)

This six-song jolt of crash-and-burn pop absolutely rocks — from the opening "To Throw Us," which would have sounded right on the lips of Roger Daltrey back when the Who were a singles band, to the closing "With Pounding Hearts," a number about keeping passion alive while entering maturity. The fourth disc from these upstate New Yorkers who have carved a place for themselves in Boston’s club scene, Badger is a flashback to the days when songs with hooks weren’t coated in treacle or irony, so Mike Gent (also of the Gentlemen) delights in etching undisguised emotions into the melodies of his sweet ’n’ snarly singing. And big-boned guitars smack these tunes home, pausing to accent lyric turns, driving verses with their churning full-chord rhythms, painting in small melodies that breathe richer life into the arrangements, yet never sacrificing a bit of bite, even when they nurse the broken-hearted-but-resolute sentiments of "The Trench." Harmonicas, sequencer riffs, and backing vocals on the choruses all add to the Figgs’ sense of ’60s and ’70s classicism. But the sheer energy of their delivery transcends retro pigeonholing and lets their honest, meaty songs make a case for acceptance on their own terms.

BY TED DROZDOWSKI

Issue Date: November 29 - December 6, 2001

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