Fabrizio and the Fever - Nunchuck Fury

Fabrizio and the Fever

Nunchuck Fury
Red Roots Music; 2014

3.6 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

I was predisposed to enjoying Nunchuck Fury by Fabrizio and the Fever just because of the title. The group is comprised of Fabrizio (singer, songwriter, guitar, piano, harmonica), Steve Wolfe (percussion), Mark Lonsway (lead guitar, backing vocals), Christine Moad (bass), Matt Zehr (electric guitar) and Cassandra Sotos (electric fiddle) plays energetic indie folk/rock. Make no doubt about it the band is extremely talented; they can write a song and their delivery is top-notch. 

For as talented as they are Fabrizio and the Fever are barking up a genre that is over saturated with thousands of bands who sound as good as they do. The band plays it fairly safe on Nunchuck Fury and never threw me any curve balls that I was hoping for. That being said, I think the band is more than capable of getting out of their comfort zone; it’s just something we may have to hope arrives at some point. 

The band comes of the gates strong with one of the highlights entitled “Bubbly.” I was willing to forgive the predictably of the song because of how strong every other aspect was. It’s festive, upbeat and quite infectious even upon the first listen. On top of that the lead guitar is exceptional.

“California” takes down the energy by a few degrees. I wasn’t a fan of the almost Everlast-like delivery during the verse. The next track “Lately I've Been Waiting” gets the band back on track in a style that seems the most natural for them. I thought Fabrizio’s vocal delivery here is at its best and the instrumental is quite good on this song as well. The band has more success with “Eloise” “Blood Bizzness” and “She Was.”

Out of the ten songs there was only a couple that didn’t quite work for me. The band has far more success then minor failures and demonstrate consummate musicianship throughout Nunchuk Fury. I can’t help but think Nunchuk Fury is merely the beginning for this band. If the band can find the X-factor that helps define their uniqueness then I predict you will be hearing a lot more about Fabrizio and the Fever.

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