This is Fever 333.
Rage Against the Machine picked a fight with Linkin Park, they all got arrested, formed a bond in jail… then started a new band.
And that band was Fever 333.
That’s the origin story I just made up, but it works fairly well to describe this aggressive, politically charged, raging rock band.
They formed in the post apocalyptic wasteland that is modern day Los Angeles in 2017. So this is a very young animal. And it’s burning bright right out the gate, so who knows how long this flame will last?
The mouthpiece for this gang is Jason Aalon Butler.
I’m sure the band is sick of the Rage Against the Machine comparisons, but they are hard to shake and most will make the connection. It doesn’t help the bands both spawned from essentially the same scene, just separated by a generation or two. But to the bands credit, their whole arc of the music they create separates them. Yeah, the starting points of influence are obvious, but dig deeper into the bands lyrics and song range, and the Fever 333 style emerges like an angry kid in the corner that you know is going to be in a fight before the night is over.
Jacked up guitar, dope beats, and sick rhymes permeates the meat of ‘One of Us’. The band likes to jump into big arena choruses, that are overly-slick for how edgy and raw the hooks and verses are. It puts an almost radio-rock sheen up against the street-cred Fever 333 wear across their style like armor.
Fever 333 had some momentum out the gate due to previous members bands. Singer Jason Butler was in the Epitaph Records signed Letlive, guitarist Stephen Harrison was in The Chariot (Solid State Records), and drummer Aric Improta played in Night Verses (Equal Vision Records). This does explain the high end polish and obvious tightness displayed by musicians who have already cut their teeth in the clubs and worn out numerous vans from touring.
And while the bulk of Fever 333 is an invitation to a protest, the band can reach down deep and offer up a heart-on-their-sleeves feeler like, ‘Inglewood’. Not only the bands claimed home turf, but a touchpoint of obvious pride from vocalist Butler. You can tell from the lyrics he has an appreciation for both the beautiful as well as the ugly of his environment. This is definitely a unique, risk taking track when stacked against the rest of the album. It’s quite poetic and drips with emotion.
All the tracks you’ve been absorbing are all from the bands debut album, “Strength in Numbers” which was released in 2019 on Roadrunner Records. The band was tearing up the touring circuit before the 2020 pandemic shut it all down. With the pedigree of previous bands on their resume, and the backing of a powerhouse label like Roadrunner, Fever 333 was definitely high profile and making waves.
You can see on that last flyer, the band moves in the same circles as Blink-182 (while not sharing any sonic similarities), and more specifically drummer, Travis Barker. The true origin story of Fever 333 supposedly begins on a SuperBowl Sunday with Jason Butler hanging out with Travis Barker, and a discussion was had that basically outlined the concept and direction for what would become Fever 333. Years later, Barker would guest on more than one track. Witness “Wrong Generation” from an EP of the same name they dropped in October of 2020. It’s a sampled, raunchy, rappy, nail bomb of a song.
If the world returns to normal… it will have Fever 333 all wound up and ready to go. It seems music is still coming despite the current decimated landscape that is the music industry. The band is fueled by the unrest and inequality of society, and since that is in no short supply, the gas that Fever 333 runs on will continue to burn.
