Alkaline Trio

Not really a threesome (tour manager Nolan McGuire often plays guitar for live shows), Alkaline Trio is one of the best purveyors of catchy, thoughtful punk/hardcore at a time when fashion sense and well-applied eyeliner have sadly become the modus operandi of many in the genre. Even though label snafus...

By Darryl Smyers

July 31, 2008

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Not really a threesome (tour manager Nolan McGuire often plays guitar for live shows), Alkaline Trio is one of the best purveyors of catchy, thoughtful punk/hardcore at a time when fashion sense and well-applied eyeliner have sadly become the modus operandi of many in the genre. Even though label snafus and personnel moves have become a routine part of the band's history, the band has always managed to keep things together, producing a decade's worth of manicured aggression that's never lost its sense of humor or high-volume dynamics. Agony and Irony, the band's sixth full-length, is filled with just the kind of shouted declarations we've come to expect. Fans may yearn for the consistently harsher tones of earlier efforts such as Goddamnit or Maybe I'll Catch Fire, but the evolution of Alkaline Trio has been pleasant to witness, as frontman Matt Skiba hasn't allowed myriad distractions to take the edge from his youthful viewpoint, even as the music has become progressively more adult.

Darryl Smyers

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