{"id":68775,"date":"2018-08-29T14:00:29","date_gmt":"2018-08-29T13:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=68775"},"modified":"2018-08-27T17:51:30","modified_gmt":"2018-08-27T16:51:30","slug":"review-alkaline-trio-is-this-thing-cursed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-alkaline-trio-is-this-thing-cursed\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Alkaline Trio – Is This Thing Cursed?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Alkaline<\/p>\n

Sometimes it’s good to step away and take a breather. Having churned out studio albums almost routinely for over a decade, Alkaline Trio<\/strong> needed a break. While 2013’s ‘My Shame Is True’<\/em><\/a> carried itself with all the expected Alk3<\/strong> trademarks, it lacked longevity.<\/p>\n

Fast forward five years and various outside projects later, the Chicago-based band have returned with ‘Is This Thing Cursed?’<\/em> Fuelled by renewed vigour, ‘\u2026Cursed’<\/em> has a sense of welcomed familiarity to longtime fans. Gloom-filled lyricism? Check. Guitarist Matt Skiba and bassist Dan Andriano splitting, and occasionally sharing, vocal duties? Check. Dark, melodic punk anthems? Check.<\/p>\n

The opening pairing of the title track and ‘Blackbird’<\/em> quickly reinforce this familiarity, before\u00a0‘Demon and Division’<\/em> thrives in its instrumentation with\u00a0Skiba and\u00a0Andriano brilliantly dividing vocals while Derek Grant’s pounding drum work isn’t to be ignored.<\/p>\n

Even though\u00a0‘\u2026Cursed’<\/em> ticks all the right boxes; ‘Heart Attacks’ and ‘Worn So Thin’ are\u00a0concise punk blasts of vintage Trio, this isn’t “just another Alkaline Trio\u00a0album”<\/em>. For example, the\u00a0Andriano-led songs (‘Little Help’,<\/em>\u00a0‘Pale Blue Ribbon’<\/em> and ‘Stay’<\/em>) take an optimistic folk-esque\u00a0approach. Later on, the Skiba-led closing track, ‘Krystaline’,<\/em> proves to be an atmospheric, acoustic tale of a dying relationship, full of compelling and heartfelt lyricism.<\/p>\n

For the most part, ‘\u2026Cursed’<\/em> is a well-rounded record with songs such as ‘Goodbye Fire Island’<\/em> and\u00a0‘I Can’t Believe’<\/em> showcasing Trio at their best. Thriving with urgency, the latter wouldn’t sound out of place on ‘Crimson’<\/em> with Skiba’s trademark lines (“he’s no longer breathing but he’s still singing along”<\/em>). Whereas the former sees Skiba reflects on the disastrous Fyre Festival; “abandoned here and broken”<\/em>.<\/p>\n

So where does\u00a0‘ITTC?<\/em>‘\u00a0lie in Trio<\/strong>‘s catalogue? They’re not quite back to their best, but it’s certainly an improvement on the fatigued output that’s preceded\u00a0it. It may not entice new listeners, but for longtime fans, this is a welcomed return in the right direction.<\/p>\n

3.5\/5<\/p>\n

\u2018Is This Thing Cursed?\u2019<\/em>\u00a0by\u00a0Alkaline Trio<\/strong>\u00a0is digitally released on 31st August on\u00a0Epitaph Records<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Alkaline Trio<\/strong>\u00a0links:\u00a0Website<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n

Words by S\u00eaan Reid (@SeanReid86<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alkaline Trio produce a welcomed return in the right direction ‘Is This Thing Cursed?’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[5879,4314,126,15692,12398],"class_list":["post-68775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-album-reviews","tag-alkaline-trio","tag-epitaph-records","tag-is-this-thing-cursed","tag-sean-reid"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nReview: Alkaline Trio - Is This Thing Cursed? - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Alkaline Trio produce a welcomed return in the right direction 'Is This Thing Cursed?'\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review: Alkaline Trio - Is This Thing Cursed? 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