Figures of Light

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Figures of Light is an American proto-punk band formed in 1970 by Wheeler Winston Dixon and Michael Downey. The band's first single, "It's Lame," was released in 1972, and re-released on Norton Records in 2006.

With a style of two chord rock prefiguring The Ramones by several years, the band performed gigs for two years in and around Rutgers University before disbanding in 1972. The group's signature tune, "It's Lame," has been described as " . . . one of the ultimate proto-punk basement rock singles of all time . . . [l]ike the dinosaur etched into relief at Angkor Wat, it shouldn't be there. It's either 6 years behind it's time or 27 years ahead . . . They cite the Stooges and the Velvet Underground as influences . . . During their first gig, where they played such unreleased material as "Why Not Knock Yourself Off?", "Seething Psychosexual Conflict Blues" and "Black Plague Blues," they rode up to the stage on a motorcycle, played their songs and destroyed 15 television sets . . . They sound nothing like the 1st Beefheart LP, Debris, Electric Eels or Memphis Goons, but if any of that appeals to you, you shouldn't be caught dead without this . . ." by Mike Sniper of the Terminal Boredom website.

The band reformed in 2006, and is scheduled to record some of their old and newer material in the Summer of 2007.