Jersey's Best Dancers,
LifetimeI feel a bit embarrased that we're called Punktastic and yet we are only just reviewing this record. Clearly I'm not the only reviewer to blame for this horrendous oversight, but I hope our better-late-than-never approach will possibly encourage a few people that may not have come across this masterpiece to check it out. I'm pretty sure, knowing Punktastic's demographic, that many people wouldn't have been listening to punk bands when this came out in 1997 and so may have missed its release. But if it wasn't for Lifetime, I doubt bands such as Saves The Day, The Movielife or Fall Out Boy would exist. Lifetime are a seminal band that have influenced the vast majority of bands that every single reader will like.
'Jersey's Best Dancers' was the band's second - and last record - following up from 'Hello Bastards' which was released in 1995. Although more melodic than the first record, 'Jersey's...' is still a pounding record that influenced the likes of Good Riddance and early Saves The Day. Infact if you listen to 'Can't Slow Down' you could easily think the songs were Lifetime b-sides. Clocking in at just 25 minutes, it's a visceral record that is high in intensity and passion. Ari Katz's vocals standout a mile even eight years on, while the guitars are vicious. It's just a record that sounds perfect, let alone actually is almost perfect.
'Turpike Gates' and 'How We Are' are pearlers. The thing is, is that you can see how Lifetime have influenced so many bands by listening to this album. The song structures have clearly influenced The Movielife, for example, while Saves The Day just plainly ripped them off. It's testament to how great the band are that so many artists continue to pay homage to them. And obviously bands like Kid Dynamite were born from Lifetime's ashes. After re-forming earlier this year and with a promise of new material for 2006, now is as good a time as any to get into this band. Younger readers of the site could easily have allowed them to pass under the radar, but this record is simply too good to pass over.
Jade Tree
Paul
