Few debut albums are even noticed, and even fewer gain high praise, but Alkaline Trio’s Goddamnit is a clear exception. The album, which was originally released in 1998, was recently called “the best punk-rock album of the past ten years” by Alternative Press. In honor of the album’s 10th anniversary, the Chicago threesome just released Goddamnit Redux, a completely re-mastered version of the original disc that includes a making of the album DVD, a previously unreleased b-side and a few live tracks. And while the extras are a nice bonus, the real gem is the album itself.
The real (bleeding) heart of the album is lead singer/guitarist Matt Skiba. Armed with a rhythm guitar that cuts like a buzz saw, rabidly aggressive vocals, and some of the cleverest lyrical chops in music, he manages to carve out a classic punk album with a distinctly unique sound. Most of the songs’ lyrics focus on wallowing at the bottom of a bottle for different reasons, including depression, the police and most commonly messed up or failed relationships. Skiba’s strength as a songwriter is his way of simultaneously adding strokes of darkness and pop sensibility to the traditional barre chord punk formula.
The album kicks off with a rabid intensity on “Cringe” only to kick it up one more notch on “Cop,” with its wildly distorted cacophonic discord of randomly struck strings. In the following song, “San Francisco,” Skiba sings of in-flight drinks and bitter heartbreak that accompany leaving the city by the Bay. Track number four, “Nose Over Tail,” is probably the most straightforward punk song in Alkaline Trio’s catalog, this despite its Wizard of Oz reference and the fact that its most fierce scream-back line is, “I’d love to rub your back!” Then again, punk-rock is never good when it takes itself too seriously.
The only song that seems out of place on the album is the sixth track, “Enjoy Your Day,” an acoustic number sung by bassist/vocalist Dan Andriano that seems to be forced into the middle of the album, unnecessarily offsetting Skiba’s vicious momentum. It’s just a bit too sappy a track and doesn’t match the album’s mood. Andriano, who also sings lead on “Message From Kathlene,” would later take on more of a co-lead singer role in the band, but might have been better suited just laying down bass lines and singing backup on Goddamnit.
After the slight misstep on track six, the album accelerates back to full speed in the blink of an eye on the next two tracks, “Clavicle” and “My Little Needle.” The lyrics on “My Little Needle” are some of Skiba’s finest including a line that sums up the album well: “Lately I’ve been feeling dead inside, like my guts have dried up and died. But every night I water them back to life, yeah every night I water them back to life.” The album continues ahead full force until the final track “Sorry About That,” a solo acoustic track by Skiba that provides a perfect ending to the album. Unlike many punk artists, Skiba seems perfectly suited to acoustic material (he has even released a solo acoustic split), and his vocals resonate with a painful honesty that blends serenely with the sonic tapestry of the unplugged guitar.
Goddamnit is a freight train of an album. It is a must-own album for any punk-rock fan, or even any rock fan.
Review Score: 9.5
*Edited from article I wrote, originally published in April 14, 2008 issue of The Gonzaga Bulletin*
Leave a Comment
No comments yet.
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
