Three Day Stubble
The Figshta Diaries (Nerd Rock)
From their humble beginning 20 years ago in suburban Houston to their current reign as subterranean darlings in San Francisco, Three Day Stubble has never failed to confound and amuse even the most blasé goatee-scratchers. The Figshta Diaries finds the polyester-clad band extending their abstract, vaguely psychedelic musings and doo-doo dadaisms into the realm of rock opera. The album chronicles the psychological descent of a nice girl named Mary who gets involved with “the wrong crowd” and changes her name to Figshta. Though it’s difficult to follow the plot from here, we do know there’s a wedding gone bad, a stay in the psych ward, and ultimate liberation through something called a “Gigglefat Carbuncle Smile.” Vocalist Donald the Nut alternates between Beefheart-style grunts and screeching falsettos as he works his way through the regressive kiddy-prurience of “Pee Pee Pee Poo,” the freaky nerd-funk of “Baby Butt Baby,” and the despondent dirge of “Leave Me Alone.” Three Day Stubble’s repetitive, otherworldly music has a hypnotic quality to it that creates just enough suspension of reality for Donald’s twisted man-child antics to succeed. While it can’t possibly match the sensory carnival of the band’s live performance (you haven’t lived until you witness Donald’s pee fountain), The Figshta Diaries stands stalwartly on the merits of its own unique nonsensibilities. 
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This article appears in May 5 • 2000.
