Good Mourning marks Alkaline Trio's fifth full-length release and once again opens a coffin full of darkness onto its listeners. The Trio's dark and ghostly style is as apparent as ever, warranting an album just like everything they have put out in the past. Why stop now? Alkaline Trio define terror-punk.
The opening track "This Could Be Love" opens with the typical gritty guitar riffs that any Trio fan can identify and find comfort in knowing the sound has not changed. It opens with vocalist / guitarist, Matt Skiba declaring "I've got a book of matches / I've got a can of kerosene / I've got some bright ideas involving you and me," and assures us the band's thought process has also remained the same. As this ferocious track concludes, bells subtly ring in the background, while Skiba screams "One by one!"
Bassist / co-vocalist Dan Andriano sings five songs on Good Mourning (Skiba sings seven) and while their voices are noticeably different, they accomplish the same thing. They deliver their songs of sadness with authority and overwhelming emotion.
According to a press release on the band's website, Skiba damaged his vocal chords while recording Good Mourning. It's obvious because Skiba's vocals are as raw and raspy as ever. Yet it yields a stunning uniqueness to Alkaline Trio's sound. Proof that a person does not need to have a perfect set pipes to make it in rock is evident in Andriano as well. He sings with a lisp, but it makes for an awesome vocal delivery unlike anyone else. Vocally, Alkaline Trio has an unmatched individuality.
The band sings about broken relationships with Andriano singing, "Emma woke up in darkness, suitcase already packed / note on the bedstand signed in blood 'Sincerely, never coming back,'" on "Emma." And Skiba singing "You crashed your car through my front door / I pulled you from the wreckage / you told me that you missed me / but you meant with the grill and hood," on "Fatally Yours."
Good Mourning has its share of Edgar Allen Poe style depth and darkness. Songs like "Continental" and "All On Black," keep the listener wondering, "What the heck are they talking about?"
Musically, the rolling guitars, quick bass riffs and melodic drum lines carry the album all the way through. It seems simplistic, but it's catchy and not boring. Good Mourning is a bit more defined and clean, yet the songs sound like they could have been the last 12 tracks on From Here to Infirmary.
It's funny that the bands radio single "We've Had Enough" seems like a stab to the radio saying, "That said, we've had enough / please turn that fucking radio off / ain't nothing on the air waving the despair we feel," but its a perfect example of every song on the album.
I give Good Mourning a 9 because the band has not changed. Alkaline Trio still deliver depressed alcohol influenced songs with a power unlike anyone else.
By: Adam K. Zakroczymski III - Senior Editor / Founder
