Somewhere in the Swamps of Jersey

I'll admit that while I have seen Lifetime live a few times, it was only recently, during a string of reunion dates, and much of my memories of the band "back then" are relegated to hearing them pop up on a lot of mixes and college radio station punk blocks. That said, Lifetime were a definite turning point for me, just as they were for a lot of Jersey youth, though there was still an entire album and some 7"'s I heard absolutely none of. It wasn't until a few years later, when I actually fell into the habit of filling out discographies (and burning through my wallet) that I picked up the bands' full-length debut Background. The lyrics of "Daneursym", "I'm Not Calling You", "Hey Catrine" and pretty much everything else off of 1995's Hello Bastards and its two-year later follow-up Jersey's Best Dancers were by then ingrained upon my mind and always ready on the tongue, a condition shared by most of my show-going friends, but having Background in my possession made me feel special. It was old, but it was fresh in my hands; listening to the earlier incarnation of Lifetime gave me a window into how they grew. Background, in hindsight to my own relationship to it, is the perfect title for the album.
Somewhere In The Swamps Of Jersey reintroduces Background to the masses and the mixing boards; the 1992 release is presented on the first disc of the compilation in newly remastered form, and disc two of the set is a straight repress of the album originally out on New Age (ten studio tracks, and a live set recorded during that era of the band). For fans long-searching for the material, or those that didn't have pockets deep enough to afford it once found (I myself shelled out a good deal to make someone's Christmas a little brighter), the Background reissue alone is cause for celebration. When considering the excellent remixed/remastered version, the Seven Inches tracks, and the other included odds and ends, Somewhere In The Swamps Of Jersey becomes a godsend.