American Beer

Fear has somehow survived two decades. As indicated by the title, Fear is on familiar ground here, with another 40 ounces of beer-fueled mayhem. They don't exactly venture into new territory, remaining with their punk-metal sound here. But what does one want? It's a Fear record, showing that Lee Ving doesn't even slow down with the wife and child. Although, from the internal photo, Ving seems to get more grizzled with each passing season. Perhaps the large beer intake is the cause. As for the music, it's a nice collection of tunes, but nothing much. More drunk punk for your drunk punk dollar. Some of the tracks, such as "Catfight," could do with a little less imbibing, as that song in particular sounds like two overweight intoxicated strippers half-heartedly rolling on the ground, as if in some feigned catfight-like performance for a bad porno company. Fear could do with a listen to both the Gaza Strippers' "Catfight" as well as the output of the band Catfight. Also, "What Is Best in Life" inexplicably begins to quote dialogue from Conan the Barbarian.