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 Artist: Alkaline Trio Release: Agony and Irony Genre: Rock / Gloom / Pop Reviewed by: Jay Agony and Irony at its best is like sitting next to an attractive stranger at a bar who completely understands and empathizes with what you've been through. More than just a kind ear, you're drawn to this person. You find a sort of entertainment in that empathy…catharsis through sharing. Particularly entertaining in this way are: the haunting-cum-catchy "In Vein," which deals with pessimism through the persistent double entendre (and chorus phrase) of its title, and the darkly driving "Help Me," which describes lost souls in limbo reaching out for aid. Who hasn't at times felt that they were acting in vain, or that they were somehow a little lost? For those unfamiliar, what separates the Alkaline Trio from other acts is their dedication to a gut-wrenchingly poignant sound, clever yet accessible lyrics, and the fact that they do not shy away from the darkness that sometimes plagues us all. They have thankfully maintained these traits and a trademark edginess across more than ten years: from speedy punk roots interspersed with evocative slowdown numbers on albums such as Goddamnit and Maybe I'll Catch Fire to the more even-tempo current effort, Agony and Irony. Rather than focus singly on the pleasure or the pain in life, the Alkaline Trio (made up of guitarist/vocalist Matt Skiba, bassist/vocalist Dan Adriano, and drummer Derek Grant) describe the complications and combinations of both. Their palette contains a greater variety of thematic colors: they recognize and revel in the fact that more than simple "happy" or "sad" colors how we feel. The Alkaline Trio makes vulnerability, romance, and connection so relatable that even the darkest bits are still entertaining as hell. The opener, "Calling All Skeletons" combines hand claps and heartache to invite listeners: "…it's only just begun / it's been fun / we were blind deaf and dumb / there's a party in my closet / calling all skeletons." What helps this sense of connection is a seemingly concurrent aversion to and satire of cliché. In a general music climate rife with it, and a subgenre over-reliant upon it, the fact that the Trio continue to make fresh music is exciting. Whether with novel approaches to old ideas ("Help Me," "Into the Night,") or turning clichés inside out ("In Vein," "Live Young, Die Fast,") the Alkaline Trio manage to again be at once accessible, intriguing, and original. The moody and moving "I Found Away" uses another double meaning: the speaker has made a breakthrough (found "a way") but that epiphany seems also to pull him "away" from the person he is addressing. As may have been expected, the subject of love also gets its fair treatment on Agony and Irony. The bittersweet confessional "Do You Wanna Know?" expertly conveys the speaker's sense of discomfort and yearning while in love. Love here is a fragile, forceful, sacred thing. Not so for love throughout Agony and Irony, however. The cynical "Love Love, Kiss Kiss" champions the single crowd, throwing a barb at couples: "Love love kiss kiss, blah blah blah / you're making me sick, I wish you'd just stop / showing off, for the rest of us that no one wants to love / it's hard enough, trying to drink another winter all alone." Better able than many to describe particular moods, they here convey polar perspectives on romance with apparent skill and relative ease. Overall, Agony and Irony is a solid moderate-tempo rock / gloom album with a lot swimming right beneath the surface. While the tone is at times dark, it is consistently emotionally resonant. The album does a terrific job straddling the line between accessibility and depth, spitting in the face of cliché while still being an exciting, entertaining collection of songs. Barring a fundamental aversion to rock or a hatred of a little gloom, the Alkaline Trio's Agony and Irony must be checked out. |
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