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With their return to the UK imminent, the latest edition of “Versus”<\/strong> sees us putting the focus on Alkaline Trio<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Since forming in 1996, the Chicago band have released 9 albums under their belt. Add to that several EP\u2019s, and forming a handful of side-projects, and you\u2019re left with a dense discography with plenty to pick from.<\/p>\n With the band’s roots firmly in the punk\/hardcore Chicago scene, the partnership of guitarist\/vocalist Matt Skiba and bassist\/vocalist Dan Andriano has been the core ingredient to the band’s punk rock sound.<\/p>\n Alkaline Trio<\/strong> are one of the most influential punk rock bands in recent years, and for this installment of “Versus”<\/strong>, two members of the Already Heard<\/strong> team have picked out a classic Trio album each with the belief that there chosen album is the band’s best. To begin with self-confessed Trio MEGA fan Jay Sullivan tells us why ‘From Here to Infirmary’<\/em> is the band’s finest work. Whilst Alex Phelan explains how ‘Maybe I’ll Catch Fire’\u00a0<\/em>is a superb example of musical catharsis.<\/p>\n What do you consider to be Alkaline Trio\u2019s best album and why? Let us know on our Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a> pages.<\/em><\/p>\n From Here to Infirmary <\/strong>(by Jay Sullivan) \u2018From Here to Infirmary\u2019<\/em> is full of wall-to-wall brilliant songs, with the only weak songs strangely being the ones they released as singles. Despite its catchiness ‘Stupid Kid’<\/em> is Skiba\u2019s song writing at its weakest and ‘Private Eye’<\/em> failed to stand up to the test of time. Thankfully there are plenty of bangers to redeem this, ‘Bloodied Up’<\/em>, ‘Steamer Trunk’<\/em>and \u2018Trucks and Trains\u2019<\/em> all display the morbid-humour and dark imagery that have earned Alkaline Trio<\/strong> their fan base. My all time-favourite \u2018Armageddon\u2019<\/em> features here too, with arguably one of the best opening riffs the band has ever written.<\/p>\n There are plenty of fan favourites on \u2018From Here to Infirmary\u2019 <\/em>as well, such as the ever-popular \u2018Mr Chainsaw\u2019,<\/em> and the gut-wrenchingly depressing \u2018Crawl\u2019,\u00a0<\/em>which despite being 13 years old, regularly find themselves amongst the band\u2019s set list picks. The Dan Andriano tracks here display the first signs of his superior song writing talent, with \u2018Take Lots with Alcohol\u2019<\/em> giving us hints of the amazing tracks that will later appear on 2003\u2019s \u2018Good Mourning\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Slightly more polished than the earlier \u2018Goddammit\u2019<\/em> and ‘Maybe I’ll Catch Fire’<\/em> releases, and without the full blown goth-punk showmanship of \u2018Crimson\u2019<\/em> (no black shirts and red ties here!),\u00a0\u2018From Here to Infirmary\u2019<\/em> has all the best bits of the band moulded into one. If you\u2019re among the uninitiated, it\u2019s also a great starter album for those looking to delve into the band\u2019s back catalogue.<\/p>\n Maybe I\u2019ll Catch Fire<\/strong> (by Alex Phelan<\/a>) Whatever the circumstances surrounding the album, the darkness and gloom that permeate these songs does so in the most glorious way. It\u2019s bleak, it\u2019s hopeless and it\u2019s the perfect record to put on full blast when at a low ebb\u2026to drown in the gloom of Skiba and Andriano\u2019s minds – a magnificent musical catharsis.<\/p>\n \u2018Keep Em\u2019 Coming\u2019<\/em> kicks things off with bags of speed and momentum. It\u2019s got a breakneck drumbeat and is simple as anything, letting Skiba\u2019s voice do all the work as he describes the poverty of the band life in which his broken heart takes solace. He hits his song-writing stride on this release, and the three superb records which follow it are testament to that.<\/p>\n \u2018Madam Me\u2019<\/em> is the first real plunge into the murky depths of Skiba\u2019s psyche. \u201cLower than piss, have you ever felt like this?,\u201d <\/em>he enquires as he sings of feeling so hollow that seeing the morning sun tears him apart.<\/p>\n \u2018You\u2019ve Got So Far To Go\u2019<\/em> is a love song, although given the nature of the record it\u2019s a safe bet that it\u2019s a lost love. Either way, the moment in the pre-chorus as the guitars build and Andriano, taking the lead for the first time, pours his soul over you is wonderfully touching. It doesn\u2019t get much more romantic than, \u201cLet\u2019s walk home, let\u2019s be afraid, I wanna grab you by the arms and kiss you, so hard\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n There\u2019s no filler to be found whatsoever, and the likes of \u2018Fuck You Aurora\u2019 <\/em>and \u2018Sleepyhead\u2019<\/em>\u00a0are well loved additions to Alkaline<\/strong> Trio<\/strong>\u2019s library, but as we hit the halfway point we get the first of a group of truly unforgettable moments. Title track \u2018Maybe I\u2019ll Catch Fire\u2019<\/em> is jaw-dropping.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I can\u2019t claim to have ever been close to suicide, but Skiba takes you with him to the edge, the power-chords wailing from his guitar as he strains, \u201cMaybe I\u2019ll catch fire, something warm to hold me, something pure to burn away the darkness that hides inside my mind\u201d.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n If \u2018You\u2019ve Got So Far To Go\u2019<\/em> was a fond reflection on romance, then \u2018She Took Him To The Lake\u2019 <\/em>is the splendid antithesis of that. There\u2019s nothing quite like the cold, soul-sucking cruelty of unrequited love and this stormer of a track, one of the band\u2019s heaviest moments, captures the agony in perfect clarity.<\/p>\n Like all the best Trio<\/strong> songs it\u2019s sung by Andriano, and you\u2019re holding back the tears as he laments, \u201cBut then she went away, his calls were not returned, he went to see her but her eyes were burning a different stare, the focus was somewhere else, and that feeling had somehow disappeared\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n Every special album should always give you something to look forward to at the end which seals the deal, leaving you with that burning excitement in your gut and a desire to listen through again just to hear the last song in proper context.<\/p>\n This album has \u2018Radio\u2019<\/em>. It\u2019s about anger, about being sick and tired of a relationship and wanting nothing more than to end it. But it\u2019s also triumphant, like Skiba\u2019s finally found the voice to say what he really thinks, to quit beating around the bush and tell someone, \u201cI\u2019ve got a big fat fucking bone to pick, with you my darling!\u201d<\/em> After all the pain you go through with the Chicago boys during ‘Maybe I’ll Catch Fire’<\/em> it feels like not just a catharsis for the listener, but for the band as well.<\/p>\n They\u2019ve discovered the strength to stand up and be counted, and in a wider context this is what took them from scene favourites to worldwide fame as one of the biggest punk rock bands on the planet. Skiba may not think back fondly on this recording, but it is one he has every reason to cherish.<\/p>\n Alkaline Trio<\/strong>’s UK tour with Bayside<\/strong> kicks off on April 15th.<\/p>\n April Alkaline Trio<\/strong> links: Website<\/a>|Facebook<\/a>|Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With their return to the UK imminent, the latest edition of “Versus” sees us putting the focus on Alkaline Trio. Since forming in 1996, the Chicago band have released 9 albums under their belt. Add to that several EP\u2019s, and forming a handful of side-projects, and you\u2019re left with a dense discography with plenty to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8181,2123],"tags":[4314,62,213,126,122,5768,10298,3029,5966],"class_list":["post-23474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-post","category-versus","tag-alkaline-trio","tag-already-heard","tag-asian-man-records","tag-epitaph-records","tag-feature","tag-from-here-to-infirmary","tag-maybe-ill-catch-fire","tag-vagrant-records","tag-versus"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Alkaline Trio<\/strong> are my favourite band, I\u2019m a full-on logo tattooed, card carrying Blood Pact member so I could have argued for any Alkaline Trio<\/strong> album as their best (except maybe the unspeakable ‘This Addiction’<\/em>). However, for me \u2018From Here to Infirmary\u2019<\/em> stands out as their finest, displaying the right balance between the band\u2019s more punk-orientated older tracks and their poppier latter material.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I remember reading some years back (I\u2019ve scoured the internet for the quote but to no avail) that Matt Skiba was deeply unhappy with &‘Maybe I’ll Catch Fire’<\/em>. He said something about a bad atmosphere during recording, that people weren\u2019t getting on well (drummer Glenn Porter quit shortly afterwards) and that they basically just wanted to get it over with.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
15th Oxford O2 Academy
16th Norwich Waterfront
17th Nottingham Rock City
19th Leeds Metropolitan University
20th Newcastle O2 Academy
21st Glasgow O2 ABC
22nd Manchester The Ritz
24th Birmingham The Institute
25th Bristol O2 Academy
26th London Forum
27th Portsmouth Pyramids<\/p>\n