Alkaline Trio - Good Mourning

Over the past couple of years, punk rock has been making its way back into the mainstream, and we can hold the dark pop-punkers Alkaline Trio partly responsible. 2003 has been a good year to the boys from Chicago, and deservedly so. Their fourth studio album and second effort on Vagrant Records, Good Mourning, has received an incredible amount of attention, partially due to the group gracing a couple big-name magazine covers over the past few months. And, having a "buzzworthy" video for "We've Had Enough" (in which the chorus bemoans commericial music... watch it, fellas) on MTV can't hurt either. All of this hoopla, resulted in the album debuting at #20 on the Billboard charts, selling 40,000 copies during its release week. Although, commercial success doesn't reflect on the contents of an entire album by any means these days. As expected, this record is quite a step up from their last album, From Here to Infirmary. On past Trio records, guitarist Matt Skiba handled writing and vocal duties on the majority of the songs, while bassist Dan Andriano penned a few numbers, adding in some welcomed diversity in the songwriting. It's great to see that Good Mourning showcases Andriano's inherent ability to create masterpieces -- namely "Every Thug Needs a Lady" and "Blue Carolina" -- which are quite eargasmic, being back-to-back tracks. Of course, the album's lyrics consist of traditional Alkaline Trio poetry, and fans have come to expect only the most depressing lyrics about drinking, dying, and occasionally, love. Matt Skiba's words are still as morbid and ghastly as ever; "step one: slit my throat, step two: play in my blood" covers half the chorus on the opener "This Could Be Love". However, Skiba's voice seems to be quite strained these days, namely on "All on Black" and "Fatally Yours", which also happen to be the less appealing tracks. The man just doesn't sound the same anymore and it's rather disappointing. The acoustic number, "Blue in the Face," at the end of the album doesn't make up for it either. All in all, not a classic, but a quality disc. I don't know if it surpasses 1998's Maybe I'll Catch Fire, but it's definitely worth adding to your collection. You'll more than likely listen to this CD a couple times, pass it off as a fair album, but upon further listening, you'll unearth its magic. I did. We can listen to it together if you'd like. Your coffin or mine? [www.alkalinetrio.com]