Lifetime - Hello Bastards (1995)
Lifetime, oh Lifetime. They are a huge guilty pleasure of mine. Guilty because the majority of their songs are so sticky sweet and filled with tales of lost love and all the stuff that quickly gets categorized as emo mush. But Lifetime were the goddamn jam. They are definitely one of the fastest band I have ever listened to (yes, faster than Bad Brains...go ahead...listen back to back....theres no contest). They throw down melody after melody and keep giving you more and have the capacity to smack you over the head with a nice breakdown here and there. The band definitely has its roots firmly in hardcore. Just listen to their earlier material (all re-released on Jade Tree records as a two disc set) and its easy to see. Even on this album, the amazing and blistering Daneurysm opens with such intensity it is jaw dropping. Dan Yemin is the man and has created two other great bands, Kid Dynamite, and the amazing Paint it Black. Ari has that slurred vocal quality that isnt too far off from what Joey Ramone was capable of, which gives it a real punk style. They even do an awesome cover of Husker Du's It's Not Funny Anymore. But the lyrics are all about highschool longing, seeing that girl you like across the room, riding your bike past her house, definitely could be cheesy under any other circumstance, but at a bajillion beats per minute it comes of charming as hell. They recently reformed and not only toured but have completed and released their new self-titled album. It is very good and continues where Jerseys Best Dancers left off.
With the exception of their new record, which can be found through the Lifetime website, all their stuff can be found and purchased through Jade Tree Records. They once had releases on the awesome hardcore label New Age Records, which is worth your time to check out, and for some Wiki addicition, visit here. ^_^
posted by blend77 at 4:47 PM
3 Comments:
I guess that the thing I've learned from lifetime is that almost no one else has as effectively dispensed speed as a compositional element.
For instance, "Young Loud and Scotty" is incredible because its such a fast, precise outpouring. It would play as a much less convincing confession if they weren't trying to cram everything in at warp speed. It's a unified scramble to reconciliation. By the last act of the song, everything threatens to come aapart. Ari all but exhausts himself, stops; then delivers the cynical closing lines like a marksman. This band rules and you shouldn't feel guilty for liking them any more than any other band.
haha!! thanks man...they are one of my top bands of all times for sure..
this line was genius:
"a unified scramble to reconciliation"
Compare this album artwork to The Housemartin's London 0 Hull 4. They were Fatboy Slim's first band and Christian Marxists. Very good album, interesting concept.
Cheers
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