Figures of Light Release of The Nebraska Sessions Restores My Faith In Garage Punk Rock Music

For those that don’t follow my site, or last.fm account, I’ll let you know that I spend 12 – 20 hours of music daily. Last weekend, I pulled a 36 hour straight run of writing, and my only entertainment was a long playlist of music that spans every genre. Lately, the punk rock tunes that have been pushing forward are a bit too polished, kind of derivative and tired. I wanted to love some of the new stuff coming through, but it’s just not that grand. After another boredom movement, I tuned into the latest release from Figures of Light, and faith was restored in punk rock roots. Figures of Light’s release of “The Nebraska Sessions” plays heavy on that hard rock sound that the early pioneers of punk rock pushed out when they first came out on the scene.

The dynamic here is not what you’re going to hear on the radio, it’s a type of punk that made The Damned, Buzzcocks, and even PIL work back in the 1970s and 1980s. If you can imagine that type of raucous music, then you can kind of understand where “The Nebraska Sessions” fit. Sure, it’s a modern release compared to the other bands, but this is in the same punk rock spirit, not confined to one box. Perhaps the best example here is “I’m So Sick of Everything”, which rings true lyrically as much as it does with the speedy guitar tone.

Some music fans may note that the garage punk sound is strong on this record, especially with the tune “Black Cadillac” which brings about a bit of that garage noise, mixed with the surf sound that made some early Southern California punk songs famous. With each track, you get a different sound from Figures of Light, and they sure know how to press on the rock button without hitting cliché overtones. It’s easy to just step on a guitar distortion pedal and play as fast as you can without any attention to what made the punk pioneers so incredible. It’s within the scope of “The Nebraska Sessions” that you get that raw connection, the music that sticks with you and reminds you to take a break from the hyper polish musical sounds of the radio, and get back to your roots.

This is a solid release, with some good tracks, and solid punk rock ethos at the helm of what very well could be the best break from the same old top 40 rock tunes replayed on KROQ (my local radio station). If you’re not a fan of early era punk, alternative, shoe gaze, two tone, or garage punk, you may find yourself scratching your head, but listen to this anyways, you may like it and it will give you something new to blast through your headphones.

Wheeler Dixon, Michael Downey, and Heath Cole lay down some good tracks with that proto punk, garage punk flair that the band is known for.  Check out the cut Black Cadillac (Demo Version) to get a taste of the record, to get a taste of the record, and pick up the album via Itunes here. It's available now! So Go pick it up and support independent music!

Check out the track: Figures of Light – Black Cadillac (Demo Version) Below


Figures of Light - Black Cadillac (Demo Version) from Wheeler Winston Dixon on Vimeo.

Figures of Light was an American music band founded in 1970, which disbanded in 2015. This channel features some of their videos as a permanent archive.

Check out our website at http://www.figuresoflight.com

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