Nearly ten years after the release of
Up in the Attic,
Alien Ant Farm returned in early 2015 with
Always and Forever. The band never quite disbanded in the interim -- vocalist
Dryden Mitchell and drummer
Mike Cosgrove kept some version of it rolling -- and the group sometimes shows evidence of the toil of the years, such as when they slide into
Live territory on "Burning." This shift to AAA is a surprise, even if it does suit their age, and
AAF has a couple other tricks up their sleeve, including their own version of
Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out" ("Our Time"), more ballads than you'd think, some ska horns, and "Homage," a journey through the history of rock & roll that's the equal of
DAUGHTRY's "Long Live Rock & Roll." If there's a scattershot quality to
Always and Forever, that seems partially due to the band just dumping a decade's worth of ideas. Either way, it's their liveliest record and possibly their most interesting to boot. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine