Figg (ex-Carissa's Wierd, Modest Mouse, etc) releasing long-shelved LP (stream a track)

Figg is the duo of Seattle indie rock vets Robin Peringer (a former member Carissa’s Wierd, Band of Horses, Modest Mouse, 764-HERO, and other bands) and Gilden Tunador (who collaborated with Carissa’s Wierd back in the day), and when live shows start happening again, their live band also includes other former members of Band of Horses (Tim Meinig), Carissa’s Wierd (Sarah Standard), and 764-HERO (Ken Jarvey), as well as Eric Wolfe (Lil’ Champions). As the story goes, they were originally set to release their self-titled debut album back in 2010 but it got shelved, then they quietly put it up digitally on Bandcamp in 2015, only to later remove it, and now the album is officially getting released on June 12.

We’re premiering the song “Black Tar of Camden Yards,” which is a very lovely dose of chamber pop-informed indie rock that should appeal to fans of any and all of the related bands mentioned above. Robin tells us:

Our writing process is basically that I walk around the house finger picking on the guitar, and then I record bits and pieces, and layer it and send it to Gilden to work on. I chose the title “Black Tar of Camden Yards” because I thought it was funny, it rhymes and there was a dark theme to it, which is always an approach for me.

And Gilden adds:

Robin and I share a mutual fascination with dark themes, but I seem to end up transmuting the darkness into a positive message when I write the lyrics. Robin will send me music and I’ll sit with it and listen awhile, and images, words and melodies will pop into my head. For “Black Tar of Camden Yards,” I felt it should be an uplifting, simple, focused intention — a love song that’s a reminder that life is a magical, creative journey if you look at it the right way.

Listen: