Review: Alkaline Trio, "Agony & Irony"

Alkaline Trio
“Agony & Irony”
(Epic)

Highlighted by their recent appearance by everyone’s favorite fictitious reality sitcom, “The Hills,” the Alkaline Trio backlash couldn’t be any stronger. How many Orgcore kids could this band lose with the following atrocities:

Signing to a major
Showing up on a vapid television show
Getting a signature Nike sneaker

Yet for all that bullshit, it really comes down to the music and Alkaline Trio have made another solid record. The thing about these (mostly) Chicago natives is that they’re pretty consistent when it comes to making albums. They seldom disappoint because they’re notorious for essentially writing the same songs over again.

That’s not to take anything away from Matt Skiba, Dan Andriano or Derek Grant as songwriters; shit, Lagwagon, 7 Seconds and The Ramones were made to be legends off of writing the same tunes for every record.

“Agony & Irony” is extremely catchy and just as grand as their last studio effort, “Crimson.” “Calling All Skeletons” and “Love Love, Kiss Kiss” are going to be the summer’s best pop-punk songs.

There’s nothing spectacular about this album, but it is comforting that no matter how hard kids think these dudes are selling out, they can still manage to piece together a listenable album.

Bonus Vid: Ak3's Shoe Commercial