Album That Changed My Life: Good Mourning by Alkaline Trio
When I was 14, Blink 182 had just brought out their last album, My Chemical Romance were everywhere, and an army of what I can only describe as ridiculous fringes were being created. MySpace ruled, Facebook was on the brink of creation, and I must admit, my fringe did take part in the ridiculousness. But it wasn’t until one random day when someone gave me a copy of Good Mourning to listen to, Alkaline Trio’s fourth release, that I truly fell in love. When I put the album in my Walkman (Yes, a walkman, it really was this long ago) and the first song, aptly named “This Could be Love”, raged through my brain, I knew that love was exactly what it was.
Good Mourning, produced by the late, great Jerry Finn, manages to strike the perfect balance between the fast-paced pop-punk of the 90’s and the darker sound of bands like Joy Division and The Cure. The raw emotion and energy that is on the record is believable and relatable, unlike many other recent would-be punk bands whose attempts at putting real emotion into music falls at the first hurdle.
The album contains songs about love, heart break, drug abuse, joining the Church of Satan for kicks, and even the Donner Party. Yet whatever the theme of the song all of them are beautifully and cleverly written. The album starts with “This Could Be Love”, a song dripping in resentment and bitterness while at the same time having one of the catchiest chorus’s that Matt Skiba ever wrote, as can be seen at their gigs when their fiercely loyal fans scream “This could be love. Love for fire”. It is followed by Dan Andriano’s songs like “One Hundred Stories” and “Every Thug Needs a Lady”, the latter being one of my particular favourites, his husky voice singing lyrics that, yes do proclaim love, but with real vulnerability;“From here I can hardly see a thing, But I will follow anyone who brings me to you”. Andriano’s smart yet love-fuelled lyrics contrasted with Skiba’s angrier songs makes an unusual album for the genre. One of my favourite Skiba songs is “Blue in the Face”; the acoustic ending to the album that is about his drug abuse; “Just one more line to keep me sleeping loudly and cold in disgrace with a shameful regret, as I talk in tongues to myself on my bed”. Though Skiba’s voice is broken from the abuse of the drug he is singing about, it is with real emotion that his voice cracks when he says “So what do you say, your coffin or mine?”
I feel I cannot do this album justice, it is something that must appreciated on its own. Alkaline Trio could have easily gone down the route so many bands who claim to make punk music have, that of image over music. Some may even claim that in the last few years that is what they have done. But Good Mourning is the band in their prime. The lyrics may be littered with clichéd alcohol and drug fuelled metaphors but they manage to make them ironic and witty. The melodies are still grounded in their pop-punk roots but there is also something more mature and darker to the songs. The voices of Dan and Matt, though completely different, complement each other wonderfully, and Derek Grant’s drums are the backbone to the whole album. This is Alkaline Trio in their prime and the legions of fans who tattoo their symbol on to their skin for love of this band I know would agree with me.
When I was 14, Blink 182 had just brought out their last album, My Chemical Romance were everywhere, and an army of what I can only describe as ridiculous fringes were being created. MySpace ruled, Facebook was on the brink of creation, and I must admit, my fringe did take part in the ridiculousness. But it wasn’t until one random day when someone gave me a copy of Good Mourning to listen to, Alkaline Trio’s fourth release, that I truly fell in love. When I put the album in my Walkman (Yes, a walkman, it really was this long ago) and the first song, aptly named “This Could be Love”, raged through my brain, I knew that love was exactly what it was.
Good Mourning, produced by the late, great Jerry Finn, manages to strike the perfect balance between the fast-paced pop-punk of the 90’s and the darker sound of bands like Joy Division and The Cure. The raw emotion and energy that is on the record is believable and relatable, unlike many other recent would-be punk bands whose attempts at putting real emotion into music falls at the first hurdle.
The album contains songs about love, heart break, drug abuse, joining the Church of Satan for kicks, and even the Donner Party. Yet whatever the theme of the song all of them are beautifully and cleverly written. The album starts with “This Could Be Love”, a song dripping in resentment and bitterness while at the same time having one of the catchiest chorus’s that Matt Skiba ever wrote, as can be seen at their gigs when their fiercely loyal fans scream “This could be love. Love for fire”. It is followed by Dan Andriano’s songs like “One Hundred Stories” and “Every Thug Needs a Lady”, the latter being one of my particular favourites, his husky voice singing lyrics that, yes do proclaim love, but with real vulnerability;“From here I can hardly see a thing, But I will follow anyone who brings me to you”. Andriano’s smart yet love-fuelled lyrics contrasted with Skiba’s angrier songs makes an unusual album for the genre. One of my favourite Skiba songs is “Blue in the Face”; the acoustic ending to the album that is about his drug abuse; “Just one more line to keep me sleeping loudly and cold in disgrace with a shameful regret, as I talk in tongues to myself on my bed”. Though Skiba’s voice is broken from the abuse of the drug he is singing about, it is with real emotion that his voice cracks when he says “So what do you say, your coffin or mine?”
I feel I cannot do this album justice, it is something that must appreciated on its own. Alkaline Trio could have easily gone down the route so many bands who claim to make punk music have, that of image over music. Some may even claim that in the last few years that is what they have done. But Good Mourning is the band in their prime. The lyrics may be littered with clichéd alcohol and drug fuelled metaphors but they manage to make them ironic and witty. The melodies are still grounded in their pop-punk roots but there is also something more mature and darker to the songs. The voices of Dan and Matt, though completely different, complement each other wonderfully, and Derek Grant’s drums are the backbone to the whole album. This is Alkaline Trio in their prime and the legions of fans who tattoo their symbol on to their skin for love of this band I know would agree with me.
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