Return to form, my ass. They may have had a few sprightly little numbers in their I.R.S. indie heyday, but these one-time Georgia folkies were never as loud and aggressive as they are on Accelerate. It suits them, a lot better than coasting into retirement on a stream of weedy wimp-rock, running down an $80-million contract that belongs in the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Hubris. Their songwriting hasn’t changed overnight — Michael Stipe’s vocal curlicues as he kicks into the verse of “Supernatural Superserious” would have sounded at home on any of their last three albums, but it would have arrived over a midtempo avalanche of bland, rather than producer Jacknife Lee’s scorching mix and Peter Buck’s alternately crunching and chiming guitars. Non-member stand-in Bill Rieflin’s raucous drumming pushes them harder than ever before, making “Living Well Is the Best Revenge” the punk-rock kiss-off that Stipe’s acid lyrics deserve. (Stipe’s lyrics seem to be largely fingerwagging at various Republican miscreants, which is fine if not nearly as energizing as the music.) Accelerate only runs 35 minutes or so, but give them a break, they’re old — and except for on “I’m Gonna DJ,” when Stipe describes a playlist as  “kickin’” and tries to make up for it by mentioning weblogs, they don’t even sound like it. 

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