Alkaline Trio

Agony & Irony

History has proven to Alkaline Trio fans that it is simply wishful thinking to expect another Goddamnit. However, a decade since their debut LP began curdling blood across the Midwest, the ominous charm that had fans nose over tail is not completely lost in Agony & Irony. With the band revisiting the fundamental idea of being a power trio, songs are re-focused to accommodate live performance; most bells (literally) and whistles are left by the wayside. A less-than-cohesive tracklisting concedes to hit-record cliches, kicking off with the supremely infectious “Calling All Skeletons” followed by the sunny, hook-filled single “Help Me,” but the disc runs out of steam long before the nostalgic closing track “Into The Night.” The scalding Matt Skiba/Dan Andriano vocal interplay that forever burned early Trio songs into listerners’ psyches is far less pronounced; however, in true Goddamnit form, we can thank Andriano for writing the album’s most obtuse song, “Love. Love. Kiss. Kiss.”

Epic