Review: Alkaline Trio - Good Mourning

artist: alkaline trio album: good mourning label: vagrant records released: 2003 by: rob tatum I have probably mentioned this more than a handful of times, but I can’t say it enough: trying to live up to your previous releases is the hardest thing that a band has to deal with. Alkaline Trio has become one of the bigger punk/emo bands over the last couple of years, but as their popularity has grown, their music has taken a toll for the worse. To this day, I feel that their first full length, Goddamnit, is their best release and that was released in late 1998. Well, almost five years later, they have released their fourth full length, Good Mourning on Vagrant Records. If I was going to summarize Good Mourning, I would probably say that it’s best described as all of the band’s previous releases thrown into a blender. The darker side of lead singer/guitarist Matt Skiba has really started to show in the latest releases, and is just as pertinent on this album. The difference between this album and the previous, From Here to Infirmary, is that the music is a little closer to that of Goddamnit than that of Maybe I’ll Catch Fire or the other releases.. There is a poppy feel to many of the songs, and some of them possess blistering tempos. The main problem for Alkaline Trio is that it makes the album really choppy. I had a difficult time finding any real flow to it. As with any release from Alkaline Trio, there are quite a few quality songs. I really enjoyed the song “Continental” as the music is similar to the I Lied My Face Off EP and the lyrics are twisted metaphors. Here’s a small excerpt from that song, “I often wonder what it feels like to be you. A mess like this stuck on your hands with crazy glue. Ran out of time, no kiss goodbye. Wish I could learn to let this sleeping dog die with lying to myself.” The thing that really hurts this album is that the songs don’t fit well together. This has been the case with pretty much all of their albums though, so it’s nothing really out of the ordinary. My biggest complaint with Good Mourning is that I don’t really see any progress. The band is as solid as ever musically and Skiba’s lyrics and vocals are still unmatched, but I guess that I just expected more. If you happen to be a fan of the band, then this is worth picking up, but if you have never experienced what Alkaline Trio is all about, I wouldn’t recommend starting with this album. It leaves a lot to be desired from a band that has so much to work with. favorite song: "continental" rating: 82%/100% listen to alkaline trio