The Fever - Biography
It doesn’t always take a long career or a slew of records to cause a stir, and with a relatively short run and just a handful of releases, The Fever still managed to put a mark on the musical map with their brand of energetic, retro dance punk. They were a New York band, founded in 2001 by songwriting collaborators Geremy Jasper and Chris Sanchez. Active until 2006 (though Sanchez left in 2005), they released an EP and two full-length albums all on New York label, Kemado Records. The first release, Pink on Pink EP (2003 Kemado) is a sassy, jagged delight with expert invocations of the ghosts of punk/new wave past (and present, for that matter), including The Damned, The Stranglers, Fugazi, Magazine, early XTC and The Pogues. The edgier, more playful aspects of all the decades of rock and roll bubble up in this heady revivalist mix, but the band had more up their sleeve (as they went on to prove); they’d really only just started to explore what was to come.
Red Bedroom (2004 Kemado) carried on with the dance punk theme, with J. Ruggierio’s speedy organ sound an integral part of the proceedings. This is high-energy pop in a British new wave sense and in a further-reaching retro sense. Gang of Four makes an appearance, as does OMD, but there could also be the occasional nod to David Bowie. And it would be remiss not to mention the synth pop of Gary Newman and Human League, but this is more energetic and more eclectic than that, with psychedelic flourishes and a modern hint of The Strokes. It would be a great mining experiment to unearth all the influences at work here, but Red Bedroom is thoroughly enjoyable whether or not you’re acquainted with 60s garage, 70s glam or 80s punk and new wave.
The second full-length album, In the City of Sleep (2006 Kemado) was The Fever’s swan song and they went out in a fury. The title could not be more appropriate, as this record seethes with nocturnal energy, subterranean themes and subconscious musings. This is the kind of record that must have been so much fun to make, in its unabashed exploration of increasingly far-flung influences (most every review cannot refrain from mentioning David Lynch and Fellini) and its out-and-out pursuit of genuine creative expression. The signature, jagged edge is still there, but add doses of psychobilly, surf, psychotic fairground ride, spy-themed soundtrack and a trippy, Beatlesque tangent and you’ll start to get the picture. There are so many ideas flying around it’s a wonder that this wild collage manages to hang together, from the crazed circus organ of “Hotel Fantom” to the mad saxophone in “Mr. Baby” to the sparse and perfectly conceived finale: a reverby, Roy Orbison-inspired ballad, “Yr Fool.” Perhaps it’s partly to do with Jasper’s highly adaptable vocals that subtly morph to suit the disparate moods oscillating all over the place, but it’s probably just to do with the fact that this band were on fire when they recorded this album, and it was in the cards that it was going to be an inspired one.
Since The Fever made such an ambitious last record, it would be tempting to speculate on where they would have gone next, and to say it was a shame that they didn’t carry on. On the other hand, they came full circle in their time, evolving from a relatively straightforward revivalist band that paid faithful homage to their progenitors into truly innovative, boundary-pushing, genre-busting artists. Whether they set out to transcend (even their own) expectations or not seems hardly the point. They made one remarkable record, and that’s more than most bands achieve in a career.
