An Introduction to Alkaline Trio

Here’s an overview of my favorite band, and how you can get into them too!

Alkaline Trio is a punk band that started in Chicago. They’ve been around for a long while, and they are my absolute favorite band. The current lineup is Matt Skiba (guitars & vocals), Dan Andriano (bass & vocals), and Derek Grant (drums). Matt and Dan have unique voices, which results in a great variety of music. This is a breakdown of their major albums:

Goddamnit (1998)

A3’s debut album, in which the band explored the themes that would later define their music. Most of the songs here are low fidelity, with tons of overdrive and frantic playing. Songs are about normal life, with exaggerated stories of loss, drinking, and love. Listen for the macabre lyrics they toy around with, because they are all over A3’s discography.

3 songs you should listen to:

• “Cringe” — An example of the frantic playing that characterized A3 in their early days. The band had a lot to say and crammed it into a little under 2.5 minutes.
• “Clavicle” — A more romantic song, constantly moving between fast and slow.
• “Ninety-Seven” — Just a fun song I enjoy, excellent lyrics.

Maybe I’ll Catch Fire (2000)

In this album, A3 improved their sound quality and allowed their vocals to cut more cleanly through the noise. They also started dipping into darker lyrics, with themes of fire, the occult, and death. Also, the album art is great.

3 songs you should listen to:

• “Madam Me” — An awesome riff that sounds like it came from Hell, with much darker lyrics than those found in the previous album.
• “You’ve Got So Far to Go” — A beautiful slow song, with lyrics that bounce from romantic to wistful to aggressive and back again.
• “She Took Him to the Lake” — A sad song that Dan Andriano sings over fast playing, but not as fast as in the previous album, putting more emphasis on his lyrics.

From Here to Infirmary (2001)

Here, A3 starts really coming into their own as a darker punk band. They build on what they did for Maybe I’ll Catch Fire by drawing more attention to their cleaner, darker riffs and more sorrowful lyrics.

3 songs you should listen to:

• “Private Eye” — One of their most popular songs, definitely listen to this.
• “Trucks and Trains” — The riff for this song feels like spiders crawling up and down, this song has a feel of its own.
• “Crawl” — On this list because it’s my ringtone, this song is relatively slow despite the awesome drumming and power chords. The whole song feels like it’s oozing forward.

Good Mourning (2003)

Good Mourning is kind of like a part 2 to From Here to Infirmary. A3 continues to lay down the darker songs, and damn it I love every single song on this album. Aside from the dark songs, A3 plays with lighter lyrics (though keeps the dark chords). ALSO, this album is the first one to include the current A3 drummer, Derek Grant. Derek Grant is an amazing drummer.

*4* songs you should listen to:

I think you should listen to this whole freaking album because it’s so good. Then again, I could say that about the majority of these albums. But if you could only listen to 4 songs:

• “This Could Be Love” — The first song of the album is there to remind you that A3 is back with some music to make your skin crawl.
• “All on Black” — Matt Skiba’s voice here is wonderfully grating, and you can hear A3 having some fun with the lyrics, in questions like, “What’s black and white and red all over?”
• “Every Thug Needs a Lady” — Such a beautiful song, it makes me happy to hear it. If you want a romantic song this is it.
• BONUS: “Blue in the Face” — I play this song all the time on guitar, and there aren’t many acoustic songs so this one is a treat.

Crimson (2005)

Crimson is the culmination of all the darkness A3 has been building up. It was released the same year as A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out by Panic! at the Disco, and you can kind of hear the feel of that time in music. Alkaline Trio really killed it on this album, and again, every single song on this album is awesome. I’m only recommending 3 songs, but this album is gold. Listen to every one of these tracks eventually.

3 songs you should listen to:

• “Time to Waste” — One of their more popular songs, and for good reason.
• “Burn” — In this song you can hear that harlequin sound you can also hear in Panic!’s songs.
• “I Was a Prayer” — A more upbeat song that is a joy to listen to. It’s playful, with lines like “I open up like the back of a book, I ruin everything with just a quick look.”

Agony & Irony (2008)

Agony & Irony is when Alkaline Trio starts changing their sound. Though most of the songs deal with themes like depression, death, and darkness, the tracks on this album are more varied and A3 does a great job with their experimentation. Dan Andriano shines on this album.

3 songs you should listen to:

• “Help Me” — This song was their single from this album, and it’s got a great pairing of melody and lyrics.
• “Over and Out” — A very sad song about returning home from war.
• “Love Love, Kiss Kiss” — Anti-love, with simple, catchy lyrics.

This Addiction (2010)

A3 continues to try out new things with their music. This Addiction carries a central theme of (obviously) addiction. Addiction to drugs, love, safety. This album was the first from their newly created record company Heart & Skull, which is appropriately named because that’s what Alkaline Trio wanted to play: songs that cover the light and dark sides of love. This album is all over the place, but it’s a good thing. I’m sure I seem like a broken record, but EVERY SONG IS GREAT.

3 songs you should listen to:

• “Lead Poisoning” — This song has a bit of a ska feel to it, and it comes together wonderfully.
• “Off the Map” — One of my favorite songs, Dan Andriano weaves together a nice little narrative.
• “Dorothy” — A song about coming home, the music invokes a panicked searching for a loved one.

Damnesia (2011)

Oh boy, an acoustic album! Part of what I love about A3 is that even though their songs tend to be fast and punk rock and electric, if you slow and acoustify (is that a word?) them, you get a completely new way to enjoy the music. In this album, Alkaline Trio even presents a couple of new songs! One really really neat thing about this album is that if you go to A3’s concerts, you’ll notice that they tend to use the inflection on Damnesia for their verses rather than the inflection in their original recordings. For example, you’ll find that A3’s live performance of “Every Thug Needs a Lady” sounds more like Damnesia than Good Mourning.

3 songs you should listen to:

• “Blue in the Face” — I’m including this one because I think it’s kind of neat that they re-recorded an acoustic version of a song that was already acoustic! It also doesn’t change the fact that this song rocks.
• “I Remember a Rooftop” — Ugh, I absolutely adore this song. The lyrics remind me of being in college, young and reckless. I hope you enjoy this song as much as I do. It’s not musically impressive, but it’s about the words for me.
• “Private Eye” — If you listened to this song back on From Here to Infirmary, then you know it’s loud and fast and grating. But they were able to transform the song into a beautiful acoustic track, and it’s definitely the way I sing the song now.

My Shame is True (2013)

Another departure from A3’s usual stuff. My Shame is True comes 15 years after their first album. The band has grown and wants to keep trying new styles. Some of the tracks on this album might not be as recognizable as Alkaline Trio, but they found a way to infuse it with their unique sound. Fun fact: this album was inspired by Matt Skiba’s breakup, as a kind of love letter/apology. They got back together after this album came out!

3 songs you should listen to:

• “She Lied to the FBI” — This song sounds way different than other A3 songs, so it’s a great way to start the album.
• “The Temptation of St. Anthony” — Definitely sounds more like A3’s previous stuff, but also has the unique sound you’ll hear throughout the rest of the album.
• “Balanced on a Shelf” — One of my absolute favorite songs (possibly my favorite), I just love the lyrics sung by Dan Andriano.

Is This Thing Cursed?

Is This Thing Cursed took 5 years to come out! We were dying for a new Alkaline Trio album and of course, they delivered. I think this album is a great example of all their styles coming together. In each of the songs you can find familiar musical and lyrical themes, and you might even be able to recognize callbacks to their past albums!

3 songs you should listen to:

• “Is This Thing Cursed?” — The title song of the album, and what a great start it is. It starts out slow, but picks up speed as all three band members weave in and out, making one truly excellent track. Definitely has influences from My Shame is True, but there’s something new in here.
• “Goodbye Fire Island” — It’s tough to narrow this down to only 3, but I think “Goodbye Fire Island” is a very genuine Alkaline Trio song. You can hear some Crimson, some This Addiction, but it’s got a great amount of polish which helps it stand out.
• “Stay” — Of course I’m going to recommend a Dan Andriano love song. It’s been a while, but the song kind of reminds me of the feel of Agony & Irony, and it’s a blast to sing.

What’s Next?

Alkaline Trio has such an extensive discography that even if they stopped we’d still have an incredible selection of music to listen to. But of course I hope they keep putting out music. This band means a lot to me, and I hope they become one of your favorite bands too!