Sometimes, you really need to dive into some heavy, honest punk. Between its gut-wrenching lyrics and raw guitar licks, the genre sometimes feels the most cathartic out of all our musical options. For Long Island, NY based punk band Figure Eight, catharsis is their brand. The latest project from multi-instrumentalist and producer Ryan Meyers, Figure Eight released their debut EP August in 2015. Since then, they’ve toured with Head North, Old Again, Light Years, and Such Gold.
Forever is their newest treat to us, four tracks of gritty emotional discovery. “Forever is a cathartic 12 minute listen that is meant to be concise, to the point, and get out everything in brevity,” the band explains. Heavy breakdowns spewing with melancholic chords are interlaced between exploratory vocals, asking the questions we’d rather avoid. “You’ll forget all about me,” Meyers sings on “Clean,” a dark tune reminiscent of Dads and Tiny Moving Parts. Throughout the twelve minutes of Forever, it becomes clear that Meyers leaves nothing out of his writing or instrumentation– his musical choices sometimes break our hearts more than the lyrics themselves. “October” rides more on stacked guitar lines, quickly inducing the punk fog we love to bask in. The EP makes us want to throw ourselves into a basement show, head-banging our pain and worries away.
You can keep up with Figure Eight here.
