"Blazing title track... With the dream-pop of early Blondie as a base and crunchy, fuzzy punk guitars on top of that, 'Back to the Whip' has a rock edge tempered with a pop softness." -- New Noise Magazine
“A balance of both sincerity and a sick sense of humor.” — Ghettoblaster Magazine
"This album is so good and so different from anything else out there today. I strongly recommend it.” – Jersey Beat
Tokyo based punk band Fever Moon (now stylized as FVRMN) share a new video from their recently released album Back To The Whip today via Scene Point Blank in North America and Echoes & Dust in the UK. Watch "Esoteric Lover" HERE (US) or HERE (UK) and direct via YouTube.
Bandleader, vocalist/guitarist Jay Holmes recently opened up about the cathartic album's creation after becoming sick and its impressive list of guest musicians in an interview with Psychedelic Baby Magazine, along with a full album stream HERE.
The official video for the title track cleared over 29k plays in its first week! Watch it now on YouTube.
Many songwriters have unveiled their "pandemic albums" over the past few years and most of them carry the weight of isolation and yearning through soft quiet spaces away from society. When Tokyo-based songwriter Jay Holmes got sick, he bashed out nine tracks of heavy hefty songs that relied on a deep inner sense of musical drive and a wicked balance of both sincerity and a sick sense of humor.
Back To The Whip was meant to be a "one and done" kind of a raw slam punch to the guts; but once he got a few friends on board to help out, things began shaping up into a more refined type of beast with multiple layers that slowly began to expose themselves with each repeated listen.
Back To The Whip is FVRMN's fourth studio album (and the first under their new moniker as it was previously Fever Moon) and features a wide-ranging line up including:
Mike Watt (Minutemen, The Stooges, fIREHOSE)
Chris Broach (Braid)
Christian Madden (The Liam Gallagher Band)
and Motoharu Fukada (ex-member of Japan's wildly popular Soil & "Pimp" Sessions)
The album was mixed by Dan Konapka (OK GO)
Mastered at Chicago Mastering Service by Matthew Barnhart
Each special guest brings their own unique element to the album with main songwriter Jay and longtime friend Scott Lupton on guitar and drums, respectively. Ex-bandmate Michael Ulliman also added extra guitar and handled pre-production duties and after a fairly long and sometimes frustrating weight of time, the new album is finally set to be released on vinyl via Bifocal Media on May 24th, 2024. Fans of heavyweight hooks a la Dinosaur Jr, Superchunk, Husker Du, Leatherface should all rejoice as FVRMN's big wall of sound guitars create a dense blast of sound that match up perfectly with the fine-tuned razor-sharp art of true songcraft.
Jay Holmes has been actively making noise for a long time. The American-born, Tokyo resident was the lead singer and songwriter in the epic indie math rock band The Ladderback in the late 90's up until his overseas move in 2003 after the band ended a successful nine show tour of Japan. From then, Jay took time off from music to get centered in his new surroundings where he is currently a full-time artist and graphic designer who has created designs for Black Sabbath, Neil Young, Sebadoh, Babes In Toyland, The Dead Milkmen, Windhand, and many more.
Back To The Whip is available digitally and as a Limited Edition LP on Red and Ultra Clear vinyl released on May 24th via Bifocal Media. Orders are available HERE.
Artist: FVRMN
Album: Back To The Whip
Label: Bifocal Media
Release Date: May 24th, 2024
01. Back To The Whip
02. Diamonds
03. Raleigh
04. Esoteric Lover
05. Decoder Ring
06. Into The Earth
07. Forkburn On the Tongue
08. Wig
09. Grim Finale
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