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Rock stars are notorious for addictions. Whether it’s a woman who they can’t seem to get out of their mind or a drug habit they can’t seem to kick, their obsessions can bring about incredible creative expression and infamous crash-and-burn career endings.
However, whatever substance Alkaline Trio is referring to in their album title, This Addiction, brings them to neither of these cathartic endings. The band’s seventh album is mostly comprised of repetitive, lackluster punk rock duds, proving that it isn’t worth listening to more than once.
Nearly every song employs the same basic punk rock formula: a solo wailing voice over amped guitar riffs, bass chords and rolicking rhythms, with angsty lyrics howling about past love or confused emotions.
While a little punk rock is never a bad thing, it’s time to switch things up when nearly every song can be described using the same three instruments. The title track seemed to be heading in the right direction, with the head-banging catchy hook “This addiction, can’t seem to live without you / This addiction, no going clean.” The fast tempo, clear lyrics and memorable melody seemed to predict a classic, polished rock album. Then the next song used the same techniques, only slightly changed. And the next one did as well. And the next one. And the next one, and so on and so forth until suddenly the album was over, without ever deviating from this punk rock paradigm.
While this may be a tried and true method for the Chicago-based trio, the similarity may seem tedious to those not versed in their varied and ambitious discography.
Lyrically, it is clear Alkaline Trio is on the withdrawal side of their addiction. Titles like “Dead on the Floor,” “Off the Map” and “Eating Me Alive” clearly demonstrate they are trying to break whatever habit they had, and they’re a little lost in the struggle.
This sense of withdrawal, paired with Alkaline Trio’s traditionally macabre subject matter, creates a sense of disillusionment in their lyrics that clashes with the upbeat punk rock beats that accompany them. In addition, half the songs also refer to some sort of sailing ship metaphor, and there are prominent references made to Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz (“Dorothy”), Alice in Wonderlandand a she-vampire named Draculina as fantasy women.
Both the ship metaphor and the clichéd leading ladies create the sense that Alkaline Trio had been drifting away at sea as they wrote This Addiction. Not only were they confined to using the three instruments they had with them, they only had the inspiration of their oceanic surroundings to explain their emotional turmoil, and their isolation from pop culture meant they had to fall back on references to childhood stories. The entire effect is unfocused and comes off as a little hackneyed.
The confusion and strange lyrical allusions aside, Alkaline Trio delivers what they have in the past: head banging, up-beat, sing-a-long punk rock. Longtime fans of the trio will have no problem enjoying this album and individually there are a few bright spots. You can’t help but nod your head along to “Dine, Dine, Darling” a surprisingly bittersweet rock romp about spending your last moments with a lifelong lover. “Dead on the Floor” nicely integrates a sense of confusion and turmoil after a romantic tryst through the metaphor of a crashing, sinking ship paired with crashing cymbals and repetitive chords that bring to mind a rocky sea.
Yet even these small triumphs can’t make up for an album full of confused look-a-likes. It is clear this is the band’s seventh album: They have found their sound and don’t really want to experiment further.
For now it seems that Alkaline Trio is content to comfortably drift within their punk rock sphere, unfortunate for those looking for something new.
3 out of 5 stars
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