Figure Walking
The Big Other // Disintegration Records
The Big Other drives forward with vital urgency. Greg McPherson’s guitar pierces through Rob Gardiner's steady rhythmic percussion. They come together to create a juxtaposition of moods. The guitar cries of frustration and the drums comfort, allowing you to believe that everything will be all right. Lyrically, MacPherson echoes his guitar’s sentiment of exasperation of social injustices. On the album standout “Victorious”, he wails the lyrics “another little sister went missing last night” and “he’ll be dead in a week if they send him back to Mexico”. MacPherson has an unmatched ability to make his guitar match the emotion of his voice. This debut makes blood pressure rise and the listener will feel as if now is the time for change. Although the album offers Figure Walking a soapbox to vent, they manage to make The Big Other oddly positive. The danceable drumming of Gardiner throughout keeps the listener optimistic that even though the world has problems, we as humans will persevere. This sentiment is perfectly and ironically placed at the end of “Funeral” in a background chorus shouting “let’s just try to celebrate, dance until this all makes sense.”