Sex With An X

Reunion albums are a lot like hookups with former flames, which is why The Vaselines called their first album in over two decades Sex With An X. On rare occasions, it can be as if no time at all has passed, but more often, it's so awkward and unsatisfying that you wonder what you ever saw in this person...er, band...in the first place. Happily, Sex With An X falls mostly into the former category, but fair warning: those expecting a full album's worth of faux-naif pop-punk tunes along the lines of "Molly's Lips" or "Son Of A Gun" may well be disappointed. There are a few songs that fit that profile here, and they're uniformly terrific, most notably the shout-along opener "Ruined" and the snarky "Overweight But Over You." But much like co-leader Eugene Kelly's pals in Teenage Fanclub, Kelly and partner Frances McKee have gained a more mature side in the years since Kurt Cobain gave the duo their post-punk canonization (and named his daughter after McKee), and so most of the album is given over to mature reflections like the doomy rockabilly of "My God's Bigger Than Your God" and "The Devil's Inside Me" and the wistful indie-pop sparkle of "Such A Fool" and "Mouth To Mouth." Good to great stuff overall, but if the stark closer "Exit the Vaselines" is any indication, this reunion's going to be a one-night stand.