By: Jesse Striewski

It seems like just yesterday I was reviewing the latest album from Fear, For Right and Order. Now just one year later we’re talking about what may very well be their final release ever; it’s one of those inevitable moments you hope will never come, but ultimately has to sooner or later for all of us (just like death and taxes, as they say).

Fitting that it seems like I’m always listening to their music for the first time near the holidays, too (their 1982 debut effort The Record was a Christmas gift after all once upon a time when I was still a teenager). And while there may not be a “Fuck Christmas” or even “Another Christmas Beer” type of track found here, The Last Time is still an adequate stocking stuffer nontheless.

Frontman and founder Lee Ving offers up his usual dose of mayhem in the best way possible, with opening track “Here We Go Again” saying it all to listeners right off the bat. And then you’ve got your basic hard-hitters like “Fuel Injected Papa,” and your catchy numbers in the form of “Three Blind Mice.”

Is it the best the band has ever had to offer on record? Nah. But is it a fitting enough high note to go out on if this truly is the “last time” for Fear? It’ll certainly do.

Rating: 3/5 Stars

By: Jesse Striewski

In a time where punk music has really lost its edge (and I’ve personally lost much interest in it) and has really just become nothing more than another type of conformity itself across the board, the world really needed something new from the likes of a band such as FEAR.

Their first “true” album of new music since 2000’s American Beer (not including re-recordings and/or comps), there’s not a single “dud” to be found on For Right and Order (typically there might be at least one or two skip-able tracks on later releases of theirs).

The minute “I’m Back and I’m Bitching” kicks off the album, it’s clear that Lee Ving and company have returned to form. It’s hard to decide on just one favorite track here, with titles like “100 Downers,” “Manhunt,” “Homicide,” and “Nobody Hears You.”

There’s even a cover of Rose Tattoo’s “Nice Boys (Don’t Play Rock and Roll),” and Ving digs into his best country with album closer “I Like Beer.” But I’ve always loved Ving most when he puts on his thinking cap and gets serious, and there’s no better example of that here than the epic title track, which I find myself going back to time and time again.

Every track here fits in its own right, and there’s rarely a weak moment. No doubt the material found here fits easily alongside past releases; this is FEAR at their absolute best, on top of their game and right where the world needs them, when it needs them the most.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars