AMG Review of Past Lives

John Dougan
All Music Guide

If by this point you have developed a jones for Saccharine Trust's post-hardcore semi-improvisatory jazz-rock, then this CD -- over an hour of live recordings covering a period of eight years -- should find a place in your collection. For a vault-clearing compilation, there is very little bullsh*t and lots of inspired bashing and wailing, making this a great purchase for lovers of the arcane and far-out. At its best, Past Lives is astonishing, a hint of how good, warts and all, this band could be.