Alkaline Trio, who in 1998 reinvented the scene with their seminal debut, Goddammit, have carved out their own nihilist niche in the dank macabre corner of pungent pop-punk rock, seem more wiling than ever to step into greener pastures with their latest release Agony & Irony. Though much of the initial appeal of Alkaline Trio was their rawness—Matt Skiba’s heart-impaled-with-knives voice, the cleverly chaotic simplicity in Dan Andriano’s melodies—that harkened back to the punk fundamental of a few guys sounding like a wannabe band trying on the fly to figure things out, ten years later they’ve evolved into a band that at least sounds like they’re trying to be happier.

Agony & Irony, the band’s first release on a major label, is sure to further alienate those who ate up the Trio’s early angst-anthems. From the clap-happy riff of the opener “Calling All Skeletons” you can hear a band that grew listening to the larger than life Def Leppards and “Rock The Cashbah” Clash stadium rock bands on the 80’s. The production from Josh Abraham (Velvet Revolver P!nk, Filter) is slick, providing a fuller sound than any of their previous releases. Always clever with their words that are still inspired by dark corners Agony & Irony offers some pedal pushers in “I Found Away” and “Lost and Rendered”, some sing-a-longs in “Help Me” and “In Vein”, and the Angels & Airwaves outtake sounding “Over And Out” but as a whole the band seems to be on cruise control offering little in the way of a true standout that really separates the album from the pact. Agony & Irony probably isn’t going to do for them what previous major debuts did for the likes of AFI or Against Me!, which is a shame because they’re just as talented and entertaining. But that shouldn’t do much in the way of discouraging people who like some blood and headache on their headphones. They are still the masters of that.

This post is tagged Agony & Irony, Alkaline Trio