Almost 15 years into the game, Alkaline Trio is back with their seventh studio album, This Addiction. In some way the album marks a return to their roots, but little issues show up in a big way to derail much of This Addiction‘s momentum. It should be really good album at it’s core, but Alkaline Trio shoots itself in the foot enough to only make it a decent listen.
The album kicks off on the right foot with the title track, “This Addiction.” Featuring a stripped-down sound and production compared to Alkaline Trio’s past two albums, the song highlights the core of what have built Alkaline Trio a following – great punk instrumentals and Matt Skiba’s fierce singing. Unfortunately, the album peaks on the first track.
The follow-up “Dine, Dine My Darling” is the first of the Dan Andriano led songs, and on This Addiction that’s a very bad thing. To put it simply, Andriano’s songs for this album just don’t fit. At all. They do not sound like Alkaline Trio songs. His other two numbers, “Fine” and “Off the Map,” are almost sickeningly cheery and bright. It’s hard to stress how much these songs do not fit with the band’s catalogue. Imagine if Coldplay suddenly wrote some anarchist punk songs. It’s like the opposite of that. “Off The Map”‘s chorus features dreadful lyrics including “I’m so far off the map the sun is shinning” and “I can row, row, row my boat back to shore someday.” Really? Row, row, row your boat? Alkaline Trio fans need to file a class action suit to prevent Andriano from writing anymore songs where he’s the lead if this is what he’s going to bring to the table.
Thankfully, Skiba still is the driving force for most of the album and actually still writes songs that sound like Alkaline Trio. “Dead on the Floor,” “Lead Poisoning,” “Dorthy,” and “Piss and Vinegar” are all unostentatious power-chord driven numbers that pound forward steadfastly with a dash of Skiba’s lyrical ingenuity. The only really odd moment amongst these tracks is the “Ring of Fire”-like trumpet flairs on “Lead Posioning” that really come out of nowhere and surprisingly kind of work.
If there’s criticism to be levied against songs like these, it is that, while they are solid, they lack the aggression of the band’s earlier work. They don’t have the same vicious bite. They’re mellowed. In fairness, it’s hard to expect punk bands like this to maintain an authentic aggression. They’re no longer alcohol addled youths who can view a failed relationship in such melodramatic terms. It’s almost preferable they naturally tail off a bit (though not close to as much as Andriano does), as opposed to going over the top and faking that they still have their fastball (if you have any doubt look at how pathetic the “reunited” Sex Pistols were a few years ago).
However, even some of of Skiba’s songs go array due to self-sabotage as This Addiction winds down. For the majority of “Draculina,” it’s the best song on the album. The lyrical work on the verses is very interesting, but it is canceled out by the fact that the song is about a girl named Draculina, a name which he keeps repeating. It is just cringe worthy. (You’re better than that Skiba!) It just completely takes away the seriousness of the song. Literally if the song is about Sharena instead a disgustingly forced attempt to make the song “darker” it would be awesome. “Draculina” is followed by “Eating Me Alive” – another case of one thing ruining a otherwise good tune. For some reason the band uses a crazy soft synth lead that sounds ripped out of an 80s wave pop hit. Why? Dear Alkaline Trio, you guys are not Duran Duran. The song has no need for a cheesy synth lead. None. The guitar part is easily catchy enough to stand on its own. *sigh*
Maybe it’s appropriate that a band that loves the macabre would succumb to self-inflicted stabs. Still, the album that could have returned Alkaline Trio to a place close to the group’s glory days is hidden on This Addiction, but a few poor decisions led it to be a slight disappointment. No one ever said that punks grow old gracefully, but at least Alkaline Trio gave it a shot.
Review Score: 7.1
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