Old Posts #3: Alkaline Trio

When Alkaline Trio signed to a major label to make Agony & Irony, their new album, and especially when they announced that Josh Abraham (who is most famous for producing Linkin Park, of all things) would be producing the project, I got worried. Not because Alkaline Trio were ever some model of indie cred or integrity, they always made simple, catchy, populist emo-pop-punk that appealed primarily to brokenhearted teenagers, but because part of what made the band as good as they were at their peak (specifically 1998's Goddammit) was the tension between their obvious pop instincts and the relatively lo-fi packaging which they were presented in. This distinction became obvious on their last album, 2005's Crimson, where the band recruited Blink-182 producer Jerry Finn who pasted on pointless keyboard tones and blunted the band's power, resulting in a stiff, boring record with only a few highlights. Luckily, Agony & Irony does away with forced sonic "maturity" and returns the band to it's comfort zone: catchy tunes. However, the record still has some problems that make it not quite up to snuff with the band's best material.

For one, the problem that Alkaline Trio has always had is still in full effect here, namely, although their choruses and hooks are top notch, they've never figured out how to make the build to those moments interesting. Thus, their songs are best when they're either really short or all hook, but the songs on Agony average about three and a half minutes when they should run for about two and though most of the songs' verse sections are simply forgettable, some are downright painful to listen to. Specifically, "In Vein" has a leaden faux-ska stomp for a verse that leads into the pretty great gang-chant chorus and "Over & Out", the album's worst song, works turgid suicide-ballad images that are only slightly redeemed by the catharsis of its big hook. Also, although Abraham thankfully doesn't try to add any electronica elements to the band's sound (with the exception of what sounds like a synth on "I Found Away", but it might just be a guitar with effects on it), he does lessen their impact somewhat by pushing the drums to the back of the mix and not letting the guitars buzz like they should. To his credit though, Abraham does crank up some elements that enhance the essential hooks of the songs, such as the hand claps on "Calling All Skeletons" and the extra guitar pings on "Help Me".

I suppose the question of why to listen to this album at all is presented then, given what I've just written, but I doubt I can convey just how great the hooks on these songs are. Alkaline Trio has truly mastered their form, nobody does cathartic, soaring emo-pop better, and all of the songs on Agony & Irony have instant sugar-rush moments whether they're provided the swaying vocal on "Do You Wanna Know?" or the backup shouts on "Live Young, Die Fast". As well, the band can do an interesting bridge when it wants to, as evidenced by the overdubbed guitars and half-heard vocals (which remind me of Bruce Springsteen's "She's The One") on "I Found Away".

However, the biggest problem that I've always had with the Trio is still in full effect here, namely, the fake-goth, tortured poetry aspect. I sort of tune-out the lyrics to their songs when I can but there are some howlers of lines on this record that are made worse by being sung with utter sincerity in the (pretty good, I should add) choked vocals of Matt Skiba and Dan Andriano. I suppose that this kind of frustration is inevitable when listening to anything remotely emo but consider the following: "Help Me", the first single off of the record is, according to Skiba, a song dedicated to Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis, which is sort of cool, just because the band is showing respect to its elders. But, "Help Me" sounds, with the exception of a slightly less exuberant chorus, like any other Alkaline Trio song. If you're going to pay tribute to Joy Division, an idea which I wholeheartedly support, you should probably make an effort to, at least slightly, emulate Joy Division's cold, caustic creep (which made their sometimes hammy Gothic lyrics much easier to swallow) when you do so. Alkaline Trio's sugar-high pop is pretty damn great, I just wish it didn't come with the extra baggage of po-faced emo sincerity that it does. Then again, I suppose, beggars can't always be choosers, especially in regards to good music.