I briefly touched on this subject and tried to explain that importance factor four months ago in my introduction to the exclusive interview I had with John Eich (guitars). I want to elaborate more on the significance of Modern Life Is War but I'll save you the dribble. Meet me in the comment section for that, if you are so inclined. Let's talk. But I digress here and move to the main matter at hand, Fever Hunting.
For a good week now, this album has been in constant rotation. And for the most part it sounds like I projected in this post a week ago. But why have I listened to it so much? Because I missed and needed new Modern Life Is War in my life. It had been too long. Also, I wanted to devour it in order to do it justice in this review.
Before going on hiatus, Modern Life Is War was a trusted source for thoughtful and exciting music. When they went away, the void they left behind was never filled. Many tried. Many blatantly honoured (ripped off?) the band in their music, but all it did was have me asking questions like: What would Modern Life Is War have done after Midnight In America? What would they have done differently? Where would they have gone musically and lyrically? What it boiled down to was that I didn't believe those other bands. As in, I wasn't buying it. They left me feeling empty. Some were good, but yeah, I kept asking what Modern Life Is War would have sounded like right about then. I've waited six years to get the answer to this question, the whole time thinking it would never happen. But it has. Modern Life Is War is back with Fever Hunting and this is what it sounds like.
Before going on hiatus, Modern Life Is War was a trusted source for thoughtful and exciting music. When they went away, the void they left behind was never filled. Many tried. Many blatantly honoured (ripped off?) the band in their music, but all it did was have me asking questions like: What would Modern Life Is War have done after Midnight In America? What would they have done differently? Where would they have gone musically and lyrically? What it boiled down to was that I didn't believe those other bands. As in, I wasn't buying it. They left me feeling empty. Some were good, but yeah, I kept asking what Modern Life Is War would have sounded like right about then. I've waited six years to get the answer to this question, the whole time thinking it would never happen. But it has. Modern Life Is War is back with Fever Hunting and this is what it sounds like.
Opener Old Fears, New Frontiers, an intro in the fullest sense, rips open your speakers with uncomfortable noise and aggro, letting you know that the band isn't politely knocking on the door asking us to let them in again, but kicking it open. It screams its lungs out telling you that there is something you need to know and you need to listen. There's nothing pretty going on here as Jeffrey Eaton (vocals) spits the songs title over and over again as if to declare that he and the boys are still troubled but they are in a different state, a different place now than when they left us in 2008. It's shrill battle cry that gets you on your toes but leaves you on the edge because you don't know how this battle will pan out, nor, how it will sound as they charge into the unknown.
An energising melody follows that embraces you with its infectious familiarity. But it's not your archetypal Modern Life Is War melody. Strike Anywhere comes to mind as the lone bass drum 'n' guitar galvanizes the listener and at this point you are ready. The atmosphere and musical charge, propels the listener onwards, a perfect mood that compliments lyrics that celebrate the now, yet reconciles and accepts the past, using it to inform and strengthen the future. 'In the pursuit of health, wealth and peace, try not to dwell in the rearview on momentary street. Shun substance for distraction. You can't squeeze love from hateful action. Picking up the pieces from the days when youth was my religion and my friends were gods. Awoke an aged atheist in a cold sweat, screaming for recompense,' Eaton belts out into the night. The song is a story of not only coming of age, but it also stresses the importance of accepting the past, who you are and who you have become, informed by past mistakes, hasty endings and wrong turns taken. Bottom line; if we reconcile what has passed and learn from it, we emerge better people. It promises things will be better the second time around. And boy, does Fever Hunting deliver on that promise. Musically, the chorus is so infectious and tangible, goosebumps appear and you've bought into the genius of these Iowa natives.
It's funny. Only one proper song deep and I'm already thinking that not only does it sound like a band that never skipped a beat or left the scene, but it sounds different from all their previous songs. So don't go thinking Fever Hunting is only a rehash of glorious moments past. Although the past comes into play with such compelling force, it'll leave you exhilarated and feverish, waiting for your next hit.
Hold that thought. "Chasing My Tail"'s patient and all encompassing emotional reverence would have fit Witness perfectly. Its brooding, beautiful despondency will ring heartstrings in anyone that'll let it. Right here, fans that wanted more Witness in their Midnight In America have struck gold. "Chasing My Tail" is instantly pleasing and deliciously moving. The music adds weight to the honesty expressed in lyrics that lament loosing touch with loved ones and how we often drift apart as we struggle to deal with pressures of life.
"Media Cunt" sounds like the perfect marriage of Midnight In America and Witness, in in doing so, rendering it fresh and spritely. The tempo picks up considerably after "Chasing My Tail" and it feels like you are on the run from something. Again, Modern Life Is War expresses their disillusionment with the rat race and mainstream standards of what we should all aspire to be, resulting in nothing but vanity, unrealistic demands, stress, self loathing and unfortunate life decisions. This is a powerful song. An instant classic.
The pace changes yet again in "Blind Are Breeding." Atmospheric guitar intro leads into ruminating vibes that echoe the slower, pensive tracks on Midnight In America, such as "These Mad Dogs Of Glory," and "Humble Streets." This song captivates and sends the listener off into deep waters. There's desperation on display here and urgency that beacons something new to hold onto in order to give life meaning again. It longs to makes sense again. Why hasn't one transcendent issues that plagued the soul years ago? Simply brilliant. You can make movies based on songs like this.
The title track comes crashing down with blinding force and anxious tension. Again, Witness fans will have a field day here. Once more, desperation and the search for new truths is treated with the perfect soundtrack. I don't know how they do this, but they just do. It's a relentless river of emotions but in such earnest, unpretentious form, one cannot do anything but admire the spectacle as the battle is waged. This song expresses disillusionment and the need for life affirming substance, better than most songs these days. At its abrupt ending you are left wondering if there's any hope for meaningful existence anymore. Intense.
"Dark Water" is probably not amongst the strongest in the pack but it's still amongst my favourite and a needed distraction. It will get a rise out of everyone that Midnight In America disappointed. It's a mean, unapologetic, troublemaking romp that rushes by you in a garage rock, bluesy blur that just doesn't give two shits about anyone's expectation. In rude fashion, it snaps you out of the drama and places you amongst the pungent undesirables of the underworld. A feel Midnight In America successfully captured and expressed but in doing so, it eluded listeners that wanted more of the same... The audience that stopped growing with the band and looked back instead. 'I'm a nightcrawler and I don't know why' confesses Eaton and as long as he doesn't find the answer, we're sure to be treated to more moments of unbridled beat punkery, both snarky and seedy like this number.
The spectre of Witness lingers in "Brothers In Arms Forever" but it is more than that. It expands and elaborates on great album, adding more tension, danger and foreboding sonically, which contrasts the release and surrender expressed in the lyrics; the celebration of lasting and non-judgemental qualities of real friendship and to a greater extent, forged and tried love. In a true Modern Life Is War fashion, what starts melancholic, ends up in a fist pumping fervour, reminding you of the old but clearly sounding different.
"Currency" lends itself to the ambience and power of "Blind Are Breeding," and would equally be at home on Witness and Midnight In America. It's strange thing, and something I fucking adore. This song is amazing. Why do I love it so much? Why do I let them get away with more of the same? It's because that sentiment - that critique - does not apply. It's been six years since their last release, and they didn't have that many songs under their belt, so they didn't get the change to exhaust the sound they created - even if the copycats tried - it didn't matter. Because when the real article comes around once more, it feels so right and so needed. It is timeless. Step aside imitators. This is how the big boys do it.
Again, you get pulled to the side, only to be hit in the face by a speeding train called "Cracked Sidewalk Surfer." Reminiscent of My Love, My Way's energy, we find the band firing on all cylinders, with that abrasive punk fury that only a group that understands the importance of songwriting, mood and depth of feeling, could make tuneful and winsome. 'Yes, I still know your expectations. No, I still don't give a fuck.' Yes! This 35 year old is pumped! I'll keep doing my own thing! I'm truly, truly grateful to find among peers an "older" band that doesn't refer to itself as kids. Thank you!
And the ending folks. The ending is so fucking neat. "Find A Way" is playing. The drums 'n' guitar intro calls Witness's "Hair-Raising Accounts Of Restless Ghosts." But the piercing melancholy and sadness of that song has been replaced by a oddly anthemic and capricious call to arms, exclaiming that the band and us are here to create, 'armed with love and knowledge I will find a way.' The album is almost over, and by this point you should feel better about your life. Fever Hunting is that tangible, that pertainable and that relatable. Yes, it is important. This is important music. Fever Hunting is more than the sum of its parts. It is more than just music. As the band appeals to us, as they sing askingly 'if we believe if we are here to create', I can't help but look forward to them touching people's lives all across the world, once again. Someone there will hear their calls, connect, and someone will respond. That is the beauty of art and music.
Although Fever Hunting doesn't ring in drastic musical changes, nor does it demonstrate a complete overhaul and reinvention, it does indeed close the book on an unfinished chapter in a life of a band that left us much too soon, with too many lose ends. For an album that explores and expresses a coming of age story, a real life tale that is a testament to band members - friends - with ties that cannot be severed, a series of such intensely personal and sincere songs could not have sounded this good and inspired as they do here. Let that be a lesson to you. Fever Hunting had to happen. Without it, the band could not have looked forward. Without it, there would have been an pretentious and dishonest void. I for one feel lucky to observe the continuous account about five guys from Marshalltown that for whatever reason grew away from one another, reconciled and worked with whatever it was that ended their run, and came out the other end, stronger and more convincing than ever. Welcome back guys. Things have not been the same without you. We have missed you.
A triumphant return if there ever was one. Strong and formidable, the crown is Modern Life Is War's once again. It is where it belongs. [Deathwish Inc.]
- Birkir Fjalar
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