Modern Life is War
Fever Hunting
It’s good to see that some bands still have it. In an era where the band reunion seem
increasingly inevitable, all too many times it’s nothing more than a half-assed
final grab at the brass ring, but it looks like Modern Life is War (MLIW for
those too lazy to type four words) isn’t fucking around. After about 5 years since they called it
quits, this group of Midwestern ne’er-do-wells don’t miss a beat with Fever Hunting. In fact, this is
some of the best music that MLIW has put out, period. While I would still consider Witness their
untouchable masterpiece, this record comes in a close second.
I’m actually hard pressed to find a negative thing to say about this record....I guess there is an odd amount of repeating vocal lines, but that fades into the background and becomes a non-issue after a few listens. Besides that it’s just MLIW being MLIW....the desperate sound that comes from coming from a region whose glory days are far behind them, a dissonant sound that is often imitated (La Dispute, Defeater, Touche Amore, I’m looking at all of you) but is never quite captured like it is by this band.
All of the above AND probably the best, most concise song
writing that this band has put forth so far.
“Health, Wealth & Peace”, “Media Cunt”, “Fever Hunting” are ragers
that never fail to get stuck in my head immediately after listening. Also, how good of a song name is “Media Cunt”?
To summarize: Modern Life is War is back in a big way and is
arguably better than ever. Pretenders should
take notice and see if they can’t learn a thing or two along the way.
Buy it here (Warning: Shipping to Canada is fucking ridiculous, so hopefully they come by on an upcoming tour....fingers crossed.)
