Oh dear, it's the weekend, isn't it? It is. Crap.
Too busy with a life spent doing errands and errant obligations. Oh well, such is our duty. I tried to sneak in a run today, the first in a while. My knee didn't perform as reliably as the rest of Having little free time and ever increasing traffic, there needs to be something here. Have I told you about The Alkaline Trio? I haven't? Well, I suppose you're old enough to hear this.
They're insane, both in the positive and negative connotations. Long standing favorites of mine, this Chicago based band has been grinding away for years, establishing a solid and expansive canon of work that defies easy categorization. Early material fell more squarely under the Punk heading, while the relentless march of time has seen them branch out into stranger sounds, their current style almost being that of a hard, modern take on New Wave. No doubt this description will bring disagreement and clucking of tongues from their die-hard fans but hear me out - look at the evolution in their sound. Look at the ever-increasing diversification of instruments on the band's albums - synthesizers keep popping up, as well as more intricately tracked guitar parts and even horns. Look at the fact that the band plays in more measure tempos, not as often falling into wild abandon but working more with focused restraint. Sound like a punk band or a bizarre, hard-edged version of modern-day New Wave? Yeah, I thought so. But while I could make my case all day about this genre shift, I would rather encourage you to listen to the album wherein I first really noticed the change in the band's sound, titled Crimson.
Released in 2005, the album was a more practiced, intentional effort by The Alkaline Trio. Their previous albums had been more of a in-record-out modus operandi, without a great deal of deliberation. Crimson, in comparison, saw the band sitting down and examining their process more, considering different arrangements and guitars and basses for each song. This more measured approach not only allowed for more nuanced production but also brought out a side of the band that had not seen a great deal of expression. Whereas the band had previously put out punky, riff-rocking numbers that often referenced medication and alcohol, Crimson was indeed more focused on dark, blood related imagery. Gone were jokes about getting drunk and being miserable - they were replaced by eerie, unsettling lyrics about serial killers, double suicide and the band claiming themselves to be "the things that go bump in the night that you can't see. Yeah, we're the mishaps that always happen in threes." This shift had started on the previous release, Good Mourning, but didn't hit full tilt till Crimson.
The songs themselves are topnotch. While the energy is still present, the band refined their notoriously aggressive sound into a smoother more evocative attitude and tone. In an excellent twist on convention the album opener 'Time To Waste' is actually begun by a melancholy piano motif. When the Trio burst into the track, it's almost business as usual - the tune is classic Alkaline Trio, albeit with this new sound peeking through. 'Burn' is a sprawling, lurching jam that shows the band breaking their tight sound open a bit, with Dan Andriano's churning bass lines propelling the heavy number into a piano-driven chorus which actually fits Matt Skiba's vocals quite well. When the light chorus reprises as a coda it's put on with the full band behind it and it sounds fantastic. The build to it makes it a standout track. 'Sadie', about Manson Family member Susan Atkins, is another haunting, mid-tempo number that feels like a fresh direction - the overdubbed guitars and wailing at the end of the song feel like new moves. 'Dethbed' is one of the slickest, most New Wave numbers on the album, all droning guitars and thumping kick drums. The band makes what could easily pass as a pop song with 'I Was A Prayer', the lead guitar lick feeling strangely and enjoyably out of place with this band. Another indication of the evolving sound is the creeping, contrapuntal 'Prevent This Tragedy', a song that puts unique parts together in a way that demonstrates they were able to really take their time in the studio to construct these songs, not just bang them out.
While there have been several albums to come out after Crimson, none of them or any of their earlier work has really grabbed hold of me like Crimson. There's something about their sound and mindset here that just speaks to me in a way their other work hasn't quite. Their energy is still present but they aren't just banging away - I feel like this is when they went from being in a punk band to being professional musicians in the career and mindset of artists who don't worry about day jobs. A weird, crummy thing to say, but I do so in the most positive connotations. I really think this is some of the band's best work and a fantastic place to acquaint yourself with the excellent music produced by The Alkaline Trio. Take a listen.
