Alkaline Trio - Agony and Irony

It has been a while since I have really gotten excited for a record release. In fact when I was asked to make a list of my favorite records of 2008, I put Against Me! at the top of that list even though New Wave came out in 2007. I don't know if I have become more selective in my old age, but it seems there has not been an album this year to really grab my ear to make me listen. I was excited for the release of Alkaline Trio's latest album, and today was the day it came out. After a long day of summer school I was at the record store to get my hands on a copy of the record. As excited as I was for a first listen, I was also a tad bit nervous. This would be Alkaline Trio's first major label record and I wondered how much their sound would change as a result. I can still remember listening to Against Me!'s major label debut, and it took me a while to really get into the record. I remembered feeling New Wave was too polished for an Against Me! record, and I hoped that the same thing would not happen to Alkaline Trio.

The first song on the album immidiately got my back in a corner, mostly because it sounded an awful lot like Fall Out Boy's song "Don't You Know Who I Think I Am". Calling All Skeletons is definitely catchy, and almost too much so as far as I am concerned. There is usage of hand clapping, and a chorus that is easy to sing along to after hearing it just one time. Of course the one saving grace for the song is Matt Skiba's vocals which are able to make me see past the fact this song is not the Alkaline Trio I fell in love with years ago.

The second song, Help Me, has been one I have been listening to for a while, and its one I fell in love with before I heard it. The song is about the life of Joy Division front man Ian Curtis who committed suicide in 1980 before the release of the band's second album Closer. Being a fan of Joy Division I found it hard not to love this song, and I felt the lyrics made the song that much more enjoyable for me.

You're up there, took the stairs to the stars all alone

You left all the lights burning but nobody's home

I believe they deceived your tuneful heart too long

By the time In Vein came on I was wanting something with a little harder sound to it, but once again my ears did not get to hear this. In fact the third song on the album did not do much for me, and I wonder if other Alkaline Trio fans will feel the same way about it. It seemed like it was just the band going through the motions, and it lacked the energy that caused me to fall in love with the band in the first place.

Over and Out is the fourth song on the album and I secretly wish that they would have put the acoustic version on the album instead. While the song itself is great, there is something to be said about listening to a dark song by Matt Skiba with only an acoustic guitar as backing. Once again the subject matter is right up Alkaline Trio's alley, and at the bottom of the liner notes is the phone number for the National Hopeline Network. I guess they know their audience.

I Found Away seems to signal the start of a faster sound and this is when I began to get excited. You could hear elements of their old records in this song, yet it was different. It didn't seem as fast for me, didn't seem as raw. I found myself feeling the same way I did after the first few songs of Against Me!'s major label debut, and I wondered if this is just what happens when I band signs to a major label. After Crimson I could partially see this coming, yet I was hoping for another energy driven record like From Here To Infirmary.

Do You Wanna Know was not a song that hit me right away, but I feel it will be one that I grow to love after a few more listens. Once again it is a slightly different sound for the Trio, but listening to Dan Andriano's vocal range makes the song really enjoyable.

Just when I was beginning to get into the album, Live Young, Die Fast came on and all hope was lost for me. First off, I can not a fan of "catchy" song titles, especially one that look too much like Live Fast, Die Young. The song itself sounded a lot like something they might include on a "B" sides album, and that is never a good thing. The song seems to go on and on, and towards the end of it all I could think was bad song, end fast.

Love Love, Kiss Kiss was a continuation of the previous track and at this point in the record I was praying for something with a harder sound. I also saw that even the lyrical content seemed to have a more hopeful vibe to them than in records of the past. For a band that has sung countless songs about death and despair a pseudo love song about stalking seemed like a far stretch for me.

I was now down to three songs on the album and I was already beginning to feel let down. Like I have said before, 2008 has done that to me countless times and I was ready to throw this album into an ever growing pile of so so records. I was actually about ready to switch cd's, and it was almost as if the band could feel my unhappiness. Lost and Rendered is the start of the excellent end to a record for Alkaline Trio. In fact the last three songs are only 10 minutes of the album, yet they contain the sound that I had been waiting for all along. The last three songs don't let up, and they do not allow you to catch your breath, no these three song save the album as far as I am concerned.

Now as I sit here listening to the album once again, I can see the overall picture a little bit more when it came to the direction of the album. I feel Alkaline Trio gave something to all their fans with this release: something old, something new and something different. In no means would I say it was their best record, but I will say it is good. Good enough for me to listen to it more, and quite possibly learn to like it more than I did upon first listen.

Quick note here, if you are planning on getting this spend the extra cash for the deluxe edition. The layout of the record and collectors book is nice, but the extra cd is worth the extra few bucks you will spend. The disc only contains 6 songs, 1 being an unreleased track and the rest being acoustic versions of songs on the album. As I had commented in my review, the acoustic version of Over and Out might end up as one of my favorite songs of 2008.