Lifetime, Lifetime

I have to admit that I was primed for disappointment with this album — I’ve seen and heard too many reunions-after- long-hiatuses end badly. Despite my doubts, Lifetime is back, and it’s like they never left in the first place. From the first blasted chord to the final note (a mere 25 minutes later), Lifetime picks up pretty much where the band left off 10 years ago: catchy pop sensibilities wrapped in hardcore riffage, delivered with boundless energy. It’s pretty amazing that after 10 or more years of getting “borrowed” from, Lifetime can still come out with an album that sounds like Lifetime…but only as Lifetime can sound.

Sonically, Lifetime sits somewhere between Hello Bastards and Jersey’s Best Dancers; it’s got the energy of the former combined with the overall accessibility of the latter. The band is in the finest form it has ever been, beating the shit out of each song like it was their last performance ever. Lyrically, Lifetime’s songs are still head and shoulders above most of their peers and illegitimate offspring. Calling them “hardcore storytellers” might be a little pretentious and lame, but, well, that’s what they are, dammit. They take the mundane and make it epic, as in “Airport Monday Morning”‘s description of a couple’s long goodbye. In the hands of a lesser band, this would become treacly cheese of the highest order. Lifetime grounds it, makes it real, and makes it poignant.

You won’t find Lifetime exploring new territory or anything, but really, should they be? They do what they do extremely well — better than anyone else who’s tried, in my opinion. Personally, I’m down with a return to form. After all, there have been 10 years worth of really crappy poseurs to forget about. The chorus of “Northbound Breakdown” says “I hope you’re in your car right now, turnin’ this shit up so loud”…and all I can offer is my heartfelt agreement.