Revisiting the Agony & Irony: A Review of the DELUXE EDITION of Alkaline Trio’s New Album

If you will recall, it was only a week ago that I reviewed Agony & Irony, the sixth studio album from everyone’s favorite pop-punk masters of the macabre, Alkaline Trio (which can be found here. While my review gave moderate praise to the record, it focused primarily on the fact that the album brought the band further away from the sound that had caused me to love the Trio in the first place. However, after going out and purchasing the deluxe edition of the album today, I have to say…Now I get it!!

Beyond the disc that comes along with the regular version of album, the deluxe edition of the album includes a 28 page booklet in a hardbound book and a second disc of acoustic tracks and a b-side. The track listing for the second disc is:
1. "Burned Is The House”
2. "Maybe I'll Catch Fire (Acoustic)"
3. "Live Young, Die Fast (Acoustic)"
4. "Into the Night (Acoustic)"
5. "Over and Out (Acoustic)"
6. "Lost and Rendered (Acoustic)"

The disc starts out with “Burned is the House,” another Dan opus that surely should have been included on the album. It stands out as one of the best overall tracks in the package. The label must have left it off simply to ensure that fans would purchase the deluxe edition of the album (not to mention the itunes version which includes the bonus track “In My Stomach” which is available nowhere else). However, it is the acoustic tracks (following the Trio standard, Maybe I’ll Catch Fire) that truly bring the album together.

For all my complaints about the overly polished output of Josh Abraham (who has also produced numerous bands I despise, including Korn, Limp Bizkit, Staind, and Linkin Park), the pure genius of the new album comes out in the stripped down, acoustic versions available on this second disc. No longer am I focusing on the change in their sound, but instead I am obsessing over the macabre ballads. Without all the bells and whistles (save the accompaniment of what sounds like a French horn on “Live Young, Die Fast”), you can hear these tracks in their purest form. With each track comes another glimpse into the writing process for Alkaline Trio, as well as the realization that these tracks are as much the Trio as anything they have ever written. I found myself singing along with each one, haunted by their beauty. Even the lyrics are even more intelligent than I first thought, which is one of the aspects of the record I praised in my initial review.

Now, after listening to the acoustic tracks, I have gone back and listened to the album versions, and I realize that I now have a new appreciation for those tracks. While it is a much more mature sound that previous Alkaline Trio records, and I do have to admit I still want the good old days of Goddamnit and Maybe I’ll Catch Fire, I am happy with it and would recommend it to longtime Trio fans and new listeners alike. Just a word of advice…for you diehards, start with the second disc! That way you may enjoy your listening experience at the earliest opportunity.

The Agony & Irony of Your Favorite Band Becoming Mediocre a.k.a. Learning to Lower Expectations

Let's hop in our delorians, crank it up to 88mph, and go back into time just for a second. It was 2000. Alkaline Trio had just released Maybe I'll Catch Fire and Alkaline Trio on Asian Man Records. They were clearly one of the best underground bands around. It was a time when, as the rumor goes, you could still get into Alkaline Trio shows for free if you had an Alkaline Trio tattoo. It was then, at the ripe age of 21, that I got the Alkaline Trio heart and skull tattooed on my arm. There was no blood pact. They weren't being played on corporate radio. And every little emo kid didn't have it tattooed on their body (although they are easy to pick up when they find out I have one haha).

Now fast forward to next week. July 1, 2008. Open your cd player, put in the new Alkaline Trio record Agony & Irony.

If this is your first time hearing Alkaline Trio, you are probably pretty stoked. The driving intricately layered guitars leave you smiling. The intelligent and darkly cliched lyrics make the corner of your mouth snarl up into a grin for a second.

From the fast, almost ska-like cadence of "In Vein" to the slow ballad of "Live Young, Die Fast" and beyond, Alkaline Trio shows maturity from their older work. They have grown as musicians, lyricists, and image conscious individuals. No longer do they simply rely upon skulls and blood, but instead craft such images into stories of relationships and gloom. It is the same old story, just from someone who has learned to use an expanded vocabulary to create the story of doom.

For the die hard Alkaline Trio fan, someone who has been there from almost the beginning, the album is a bit too overproduced. When I listen to it, there are moments that I feel bored. There are moments where I feel the tracks are too polished and I long for the raw tales of crying in beer. That being said, I have only listened to the record once, and in it I can still hear some excellent songs that although they are not my favorite Alkaline Trio tracks, I can already tell they will grow on me.

As a huge Matt Skiba fan, I have to say that on Agony it is the Dan tracks that shine. From the first time I heard "In Vein," when the band released it on their myspace for 24 hours, I knew I loved the song. There are moments when the song dags on a little too long, but as a whole I think it is a great upbeat track. Oddly enough, although I find the Dan tracks to carry the record, but favorite track has to be "Into the Night," with Skiba crooning "So sing to me your darkest secrets/Time to leave behind your regrets/Before we get lost in the blink of an eye." This track is more of the traditional Alkaline Trio formula (harkening back to a time when you knew a song was the Trio as soon as you heard the opening notes strummed on Matt's guitar).

If this was my first exposure to the band, I would probably rave on and on about the record...but because I am stuck in the box of wanting the past Trio songs to be recreated in some new form, I can't help but be let down. This is no Goddamnit. There is no "Mr. Chainsaw" or "Radio." But, I do think that after a few listens I will consider it to be a strong record. It is an improvement upon the two or three tracks on Crimson that I enjoyed (although I feel as if those few tracks on liked on that record are pretty great). And as major label releases go these days, I do think it tops most of the other stuff out there.

In the end I am torn...do I want to like this record because it is Alkaline Trio? Or
is it actually growing on me the more I think about it? Will it be like Against Me's major label debut that I absolutely hated at first, but which I now tolerate on some occasions, yet enjoy on most occasions? I think it is probably the latter. I hope it is. I'll give it another two or eight spins and update further.

Alkaline Trio to Release Nike Shoes

So Alkaline Trio has announced that on June 27th (good date!) they will be releasing their new Nike Heart and Sole Air Zoom shoes. At first, although I thought nike and the trio were a weird pairing, but I thought I would give them the benefit of the doubt...afterall they demanded that the shoes be vegan since they are vegetarians! However, once i saw the shoe, I was let down. Here is the video that they are using to promote including Matt Skiba talking about the shoe:


In the video Skiba says..."Dude, I can't believe this [the alkaline trio logo] and this [the nike swoosh] are on the same thing...It's like the best...It like makes my life." I can't tell if he is being serious or not. Being a successful musician where you can live off the money and be on a major label is okay...but being on a nike shoe means you can die happy?! Is he really hurting for money so bad they had to do this? Did the label push them into it? He's always been nice to me, and is best friends with Mike, so I will still give him the benefit of the doubt, but it just seems a little bit too much for me...I mean, I guess if i thought the shoe looked awesome i wouldn't care as much, but the original Londons that Macbeth release (both the suede which i rocked forever, and the full grain which came later) that had Trio lyrics in them were SO MUCH BETTER!!
You decide:


vs.


(I wish I could find a pic of the suede ones...they are so much better.

I don't know...maybe they will grow on me. In the video they look thinner and more sleek. Maybe the picture they are using to promote it is just bad.

But I am still shocked...a pairing of Alkaline Trio and Nike? What's next...Against Me! and a major label? oh wait...!!!