Have Another Beer With Fear (Sector 2)
After years of dormancy, vocalist Lee Ving has reignited Fear with new
personnel playing the exact same brand of militant, gob-inspiring hardcore John
Belushi once slam-danced to. However, today’s unit plays with more clarity and
urgency than the Fear of old, probably due in part to the addition of bassist
Scott Thunes. At the same time, Ving’s lyrical world view has grown
significantly uglier. Once you get through no less than four odes to beer on
this album, the lyrics assume the same, half-humorous, half-serious angry white
man veneer that created a career for Hank Williams, Jr. From the
tongue-in-cheek sexism of “Honor and Obey” to the reactionary law-and-order of
“Public Hangings” and “Untermenschen” (which is German for “subhuman”), Fear
walk a paper-thin line between irony and incitement. It’s powerful stuff that
still manages to capture some of the urban nihilism that fueled the scene from
which Fear sprung. I like to think it’s supposed to be funny, but it’s the kind
of joke that makes you feel sick to your stomach for laughing at it.
2.5 stars — Greg Beets
This article appears in November 17 • 1995 and November 17 • 1995 (Cover).