EP Review: Fever 333 - WRONG GENERATION

Content Warning: This article makes mention to the death of George Floyd and police brutality.

For 13 days after the murder of George Floyd, Fever 333 frontman Jason Aalon took to the streets, marching with millions of other Black Lives Matter protestors against racism and the institutions that uphold it. In the eight days that followed, he wrote WRONG GENERATION. It is no surprise then that this record is infused with both Aalon’s lived experience of police brutality, and the unprecedented anger and agency of a generation.

This record is infused with both Aalon’s lived experience of police brutality, and the unprecedented anger and agency of a generation

The first track, ‘BITE BACK’ summarises what this EP is all about, biting back against the oppressive forces in society. Aalon’s vocals penetrate the mix of heavy, distorted guitars and stomping drums; the band’s ability to switch seamlessly between breakdowns and cleaner, more lyrically complex, drawn-back sections is a real strong point of this project. WRONG GENERATION as a whole is well-balanced, with more intense, almost metal songs such as ‘FOR THE RECORD,’ which features hardcore singer Walter Delgado of Rotting Out, spaced out between more rock and hip-hop style tracks.

‘LAST TIME,’ the penultimate song, is the only slow track on the EP, standing out for its mellowness amongst Fever 333’s notoriously high-energy discography. It works perfectly to provide a brief respite after the heaviest song on the record before the closing track, ‘SUPREMACY.’ Concluding the record, ‘SUPREMACY’ challenges the listener to act on the message of the EP: ‘When we were marching for our lives / You stood on the other side.’

WRONG GENERATION essentially immerses us in the experience of the BLM protests; ‘BLOCK IS ON FIRE’ literally describes the burning buildings of Los Angeles. Making music about social justice is not new to Fever 333. In fact, the band was formed as a reaction to the social problems of our time, but this project stands out in their discography for its immediacy, and its focus on a specific movement that allows it to acutely tap into the mood of a generation. The band’s music shifts back and forth between the genres of rock, metal and hip-hop, genres which have the ideas of justice and rebellion against oppressive social orders as central to their conception. Bands such as Rage Against The Machine have long since used similar music as a vehicle for activism, and WRONG GENERATION’s title track’s callback to Public Enemy’s ‘Miuzi Weighs A Ton’ is a nod of respect and solidarity to these musicians.

Making music about social justice is not new to Fever 333

Aalon is not shouting into a void; his anger is built on the deep foundations of America’s racist history and culture. His lived experience and share in the collective anger of his generation permeates the whole EP, particularly in ‘BITE BACK,’ where Aalon makes an impassioned speech over a sample of ‘no justice, no peace’ protest chants. Aalon’s strong lyricism is a highlight of this project, filled with agitational lines: ’12 the biggest gang in the world,’ and contemporary allusions to the BLM movement: ‘Power to the people, take a knee / While chanting, ‘I can’t breathe.” There is absolutely no ambiguity over the identity of ‘us’ and ‘them.’

WRONG GENERATION is not just an expression of collective rage at America’s racist culture, it functions as a remarkable anthem of hope. ‘LAST TIME’ really stands out for its slow, piano-driven melody, and lyrically functions as a reflection on how far the movement has come, and how far it has the potential to go. ‘From 3/5 a man / To a million men strong’ is a moving depiction of the shift from black Americans being counted as only 3/5 of a person in 1787, to a community of millions fighting collectively for liberation.

This EP is a near-masterpiece precisely because it so vividly captures the anger, hope and determination of a generation. In a Twitter statement, Aalon describes WRONG GENERATION as ‘art as activism first.’ That is exactly what this EP is, music that builds on the revolutionary character of its influences and inspires action in its listeners, representing millions of activists fighting against injustice. As the title track puts it, ‘You fucked with the wrong generation.’

With the release of the album, Fever 333 also wrote a powerful message to their listeners via twitter.