Thee Mighty Fevers
Fuck’in Great R ‘n’ R
Dead Beat Records, 2013
I have no idea what the hell Thee Mighty Fevers are yelling about and could care less. All I know is I want more. Kobe, Japan’s greasy garage rockers scream and wail with enough conviction and purpose to peel the paint off the walls and make you want to start pogo-ing immediately regardless of where you may be listening.
Musically, the most obvious comparisons would be to The Ramones as three of the four band members have dubbed themselves with the Fever last name, they wear black motorcycle jackets and everything kicks off with a breackneck 4 count, but The Ramones is really just a jumping off point. There are too many leads, too much teeters at hardcore speeds for it to be a fair analogy. The guitar leads throughout this disc are bright, racous, jagged and alternately brilliant, or a complete mess. And it doesn’t matter so much. As soon as one song’s done, you’re slammed into the next one without time to think, the way the best rock should be.
There are moments, albeit brief ones, like on “Bad Party,” where they allow a song to fall away to just the beat and you can feel the tension building in those few moments, where the musicians have to be quiet and restrain themselves. Never thought I’d notice something subtle about something so aggresivley pushed into the red.
“Radio Burn.,” “I’m A Zombie,” “After School Shadow,” and “Motorcycle Party,” are standout tracks. Thee Mighty Fevers are raw, rude and unrefined.
Let’s hope they stay that way.