I think I did a little jig when I found out Lifetime were reforming. While I may have been late to the Lifetime party, I’m now the proud owner of several albums, which sit proudly amongst my favourite records of all time. With the promise of new material on the horizon, ‘Somewhere In The Swamps of Jersey‘ is a 45-song, two disc and 50-plus page booklet compilation of odds and sods to commemorate the band’s return to action. And while it’s not the most obvious Lifetime starting point, it is still a fucking great record for those of us who missed out on all the 7-inches and unreleased remixes that came out at the time of ‘Jerseys Best Dancers’.
Disc 1 features various songs on now out of print 7-inches, alongside a whole stack of unreleased remixes, while disc two is the now out-of-print ‘Background’ LP, complete with a slew of live tracks. If you’re new to Lifetime, then I’d recommend starting off with ‘Hello Bastards’ or ‘Jerseys Best Dancers’ as both records are far more cohesive and accesible than this one. That’s not to say ‘Somewhere In The Swamps of Jersey‘ is for collectors or fans only, but I do think this will be appreciated by older fans a lot more. The early songs on disc 1 are a lot more raw than their full length records, but early versions of ‘Young, Loud and Scotty’ and ‘Pieces’ are loud and brash and full of fist-in-the-air singalongs. Even a ramshackle cover of ‘New England’ goes down a treat. To be fair, while some of the songs are a little forgettable, none are particularly bad by any means.
Disc 2 is just more of the same, running through alternative versions of ‘You’, ‘Pieces’ and ‘Thanks’. there’s a heart-on-their-sleeve feel which is lacking in so many bands nowadays, so much so that you can see why bands like Fall Out Boy and Saves The Day claim that without Lifetime their bands wouldn’t even exist. The live tracks that are tacked on the end are really rough, but then that;s the essence of Lifetime in a nutshell – it’s not about the glossy production or the clothes they were wearing, it was about the songs and nothing else. Special mention must also go to the artwork, which features an enormously detailed booklet with lyrics, photos, doodles, interviews, passages and a whole manner of goodies. The booklet is worth the CD price alone. In short, you need Lifetime in your life. This record is great – although not their best – and should be part of your record collection.
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paul