Short review that really has nothing to do with this record:
Dear Dan Adriano,
Please, for the love of god, will you start your own band already!? Thanks!
Love, Will.
Longer review that has more to do with the actual record:
Fairly or unfairly, it seems as though Alkaline Trio will always be measured in comparison to the band’s first two albums. Goddamnit and Maybe I’ll Catch Fire are two of the most played albums in my entire collection and I imagine that goes for a lot of kids who grew up on pop/punk. After those first two records on Asian Man, the band headed for the greener pastures of Vagrant. Over the next three records, the band’s sound has been smoothed and shined to death. The raw emotion that permeated the first two records was lost somewhere along the way behind black suits and makeup. Now the band makes the leap to the majors with their sixth album, Agony & Irony.
Agony & Irony is an interesting record when you look at all the factors. The band has seemingly dropped the gothier (?) look of the last couple of albums as they appear in actual street clothes in their current press shots. Lyrically, Agony & Irony echoes the band’s earlier more cynical material as they bid farewell to a lot of the darker imagery. But production wise, the album unfortunately continues further along the same path. Quite frankly, when Alkaline Trio songs come closer to sounding like The Killers than Smoking Popes, well, that’s when all of us need to reassess the situation.
There is no doubt that Agony & Irony is damn catchy. Skiba and Adriano still know their way around a pop hook blindfolded. The record is certainly bolstered by Adriano’s more prominent role. He’s given five songs out of the eleven here which definitely seems like a heavier load than previous A3 records. The album is also a welcome shift in lyrical motivations for the most part. But, at the end of the day there is a bit of a hollow feeling left when the last note of Agony & Irony is played. The power and purpose of the band’s songs does not seem to shine through like they once did. All that is left is an enjoyable, yet fleeting affair. I get the feeling that Agony & Irony will soon be forgotten as more albums pile up on my desk. And frankly, that is a shame considering where and how this band started off.
Genre: Pop/Punk/Rock
RIYL: Smoking Popes, The Killers, Jawbreaker
Label: Epic
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soundaslanguage1
on Jul 27th, 2008 at 1:32 am
I can see where you’re coming from on this new Alkaline Trio record. I totally wish Jawbreaker had recorded five more albums identical in content and production to 24 Hour Revenge Therapy (and especially from the 4th song to the end - the first three songs are awesome but should have been a 7″, but I digress). On the other hand, I think there’s some real gems in all the Alkaline Trio records after the first two - some powerful parts and most of the goth stuff seems to me to be mostly at the surface level - like the way Buffy the Vampire Slayer isn’t really about vampires but is about adolescence and growing up. I think the new Alkaline Trio also has parts that sound a lot like some of the earlier stuff musically - lots of octaves and all that, and way less of the goth sound, musically.
That said it’s totally not recorded how I want it (like Dear You vs 24 Hour), totally recorded like a radio record where you just can’t seem to make it sound good and loud no matter how far you turn it up.
I guess it’s just taste and I’m not trying to pick an argument, just saying.
Love your site by the way, I just stumbled here.
take care,
Nate
on Jul 30th, 2008 at 12:41 am
I agree that goth was more of a look as opposed to a sound for the band…that was my point in the review.
Really, it’s the production that kills the record on a whole. I can take the slick production on Jawbreaker’s Dear You cause the songs still stand up for me though. Here it is certainly to the detriment of the songs as you may have alluded. It comes off sounding like a bunch of singles instead of a cohesive record.
So yeah, that being said, I’ve still listened to this album a ton since I got it. I think I’ll always find something to love about an A3 album but it’s just not the same as it once was.
Thanks for the comment Nate. I really appreciate you checking out the site.