Alkaline Trio - Crimson

Alkaline Trio
Crimson
Vagrant Records
Grade: A-

Taking their smashing 2003 release Good Mourning to all new heights, Chicago’s Alkaline Trio blast and demolish the competition on their latest opus Crimson. Hardly an individual with even a hint of interest in punk hasn’t heard of Alkaline Trio. Crimson is unbelievably the band’s fifth full-length, among other releases, and it has been a long road since their early days on Asian Man. But now Alkaline Trio is the most consistent and tight punk band around and continue to deliver spine-chilling catchy songs.

Similar in feel to Good Mourning, the eleven songs on Crimson consist of the familiar Alkaline Trio dark and depressing lyrical imagery. Yet, the music on Crimson is incredibly melodic and illustrates sweet production by Jerry Finn – building on the thick sound of Good Mourning. Matt Skiba, Derek Grant and Dan Andriano have an amazing knack for delivering familiar and dependable song constructions, but with enough melody and little turns to make every song and album sound different. Often bands eventually implode on their own sound by playing the same thing over and over or trying to innovate and winding up like crap. By keeping things the same, Alkaline Trio is able to keep things different.

Crimson opens with undertoned piano on “Time to Waste” before guitars assault and Skiba’s smooth vocals enter. The shorter, harder “Poison” follows with one of the more memorable choruses of “How could a rooftop view in London/Look just the same as one in Brooklyn?” “Burn” includes left-to-right guitar effects and focuses on Skiba’s vocals over a rather moderate tempo. The pop appeal to “Mercy Me” is just ridiculous immediate sucking you in as Alkaline Trio’s borrows the opening from their “Queen of Pain.” Naturally, “Dethbed” contains classic Skiba dark lyrics, while “Settle for Satin” is rather ordinary by Crimson standards. Alkaline Trio slows the tempo for the ode to Manson family member Sadie Mae Glutz entitled “Sadie.” As slow Alkaline Trio numbers go, “Sadie” is near the top. “Fall Victim” hits with a catchy chorus and “I Was a Prayer” moves you with Andriano at the helm but it is rather pedestrian. Surprisingly, strings open “Prevent This Tragedy” and interpose bridges on this song to the West Memphis Three. “Back to Hell” moves quickly, but only comes around halfway through on the chorus. After the average “Your Neck,” “Smoke” closes out Crimson where Alkaline Trio mellow things out as guitars screech for the top and strings arrive for ammunition.

The CD also includes enhanced video of cuts of the band working in the studio – and it actually ain’t half bad to watch. With Crimson, Alkaline Trio is set to take over the small percentage of the punk world that isn’t already theirs. Since the album is filled with ‘singles’ look for forthcoming videos and the like in the near future. Having seen Alkaline Trio an array of times before their 2001’s From Here to Infirmary, I’m anxious to see if their live show has finally caught up to their spellbinding records.