I’m going to be brutally honest here. But I’ll start on a lighter note.

My favorite thing about hardcore/punk influenced shows is watching the antics of the band and the audience’s response. There may be no better band to indulge in this guilty pleasure with these days, well, pre-COVID, than Fever 333, with frontman Jason Butler’s unpredictable stage antics and the frenetic responses of the audience. Kudos to the dude(s) who control and handle his (very) long mic cable.

And yet, I feel conflicted when considering Fever 333’s entertainment factor when listening to “Wrong Generation.” Am I supposed to be entertained? I’m a straight white male, an Evangelical Christian, I had a conservative upbringing, and I live in a swing state. I’ve had challenges in my life—I was born hearing impaired and suffered socially as a result. But have I ever truly been marginalized?

So, again I’ll ask—am I supposed to enjoy this record? Jason sounds positively pissed when I listen. I feel like I’m hearing a man at the end of his rope, who doesn’t know what to do except express his anger. The album is very repetitive at times—but think about it, how often is anger eloquent? Almost never. He wrote this record in 8 days following the height of the George Floyd protests. Is just listening to this record to blow off steam and get pumped up exploiting someone else’s pain?

When I heard “Bite Back” for the first time, my reaction was “dang, this slams. It’s classic Fever 333.” As I listen to the lyrics, I immediately feel uncomfortable. “Fuck forgiveness!” Butler yells at one point—apparently directly countering my Christian worldview. I think I know what he’s actually saying—expressing disdain for empty words and hasty responses that we should forgive and forget. Yet, my immediate reaction is that “Well, how can he say that? I don’t deserve God’s mercy. But he’s forgiven me for a lot. So how I can say ‘fuck forgiveness’?”

Am I alright with that phrase? I dunno. Not at face value. But I think I’m starting to understand why it’s there, and that is something worth exploring, I think.

The crux of the title track is a refrain of “You messed with the wrong generation!” Again, my worldview makes me feel conflicted. On one hand—people are waking up to injustice in a way I’ve never seen in my life. And one of those people was me—which I hesitate to say because I don’t want to come across as self-serving. Heck, I’m writing this review because I think people will be interested in reading it, and I’m starting to wonder “Who am I really trying to elevate here?” I guess that I’m even thinking that it all is evidence that the powers that be messed with the wrong generation.

Speaking of the powers that be—let’s get spiritual for a second. I strongly believe, based on a mixture of faith and personal experience, that there are forces of darkness at work that we cannot see. That’s what’s driving all this division and hatred. When I listen to Fever 333 and blow off some steam—I’m directing my anger squarely at those forces and principalities that I know are trying to bring me down—the same ones driving prejudice and racism. “YOU WANTED A FIGHT WELL YOU GOT ONE!” is a war cry that channels Rage Against the Machine’s Zack De La Rocha, and one that I feel crosses race, creed, ethnicity, background… you name it. I think of what Christ said in the Bible—”I came not to bring peace but a sword” yet also instructed us to turn the other cheek. There’s tension there.

I enjoy this record. But I hear the anger and that enjoyment is restrained—because I’m afraid of co-opting someone’s very real pain for my own entertainment. I could point out the obvious things about the production and such, but I think I’ll leave it at that.

I’ll close with another dose of honesty though—this record does have fun moments, and it has an air of camaraderie. It’s meant to get you riled up. Is it healthy to consume angry music all the time? I dunno.

But you know what isn’t healthy? Living in fear that you or your brothers or sisters will get killed for something they can’t control.

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