Alkaline Trio
Blood, Hair, And Eyeballs

In the small musical bubble where people like me live, it's common for situations to intertwine, events to chase each other, fantasies to sweet-talk each other, and then, at the peak, vanish without reason, leaving us like after a wet dream.

Dazed, embarrassed, confused but somewhat reassured by knowing it was all just a product of imagination.

For example, when Matt Skiba was announced as a touring member for a blink-182 concert in January 2015, I remember thinking that sometimes, through the intercession of some all-seeing, all-powerful gothic god, it's possible to have the best of two worlds that, at a certain point, started to look at each other, sniff around, but never with serious intentions.

The official studio debut in September of the same year, replacing Tom De Longe, dispelled any doubts.

Potentially, it could have been the dawn of a new era for blink-182, whose reflected light would shine on Matt and his Alkaline Trio, the chance to expand the horizons of a fanbase—the De Longe widows—towards a band with the same attitude but consolidated in a catalog of solid records, now cult for the entire punk-rock circuit.

After two 'so-so' albums peppered with a handful of good Skiba-branded songs like "Darkside," "No Heart To Speak Of," and "Black Rain," the awakening: it's a day in October 2022, Matt has long been at his sick father's bedside when blink-182 announces the reintegration of De Longe into the historic trio lineup.

The return to reality shouts that Alkaline Trio, in the meantime, are still active. Though sporadically.

"Is This Thing Cursed?" is labeled 2018, while "E.P," a three-track offering "Minds Like Minefields" as the only satisfaction, is the last release dating back to 2020.

In between, the series "Past Live," a four-night residency at Metro in Chicago.

We're in the present. Derek Grant has left his place behind the drums (replaced by veteran Atom Willard, already of Offspring, Angels & Airwaves, and Against Me!), but not before completing the studio sessions for this "Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs."

Having recorded drums on tape first, then constructing the songs from scratch, by necessity, makes the trio from Illinois's tenth studio work something that, if not a new beginning, comes very close: the stylistic and compositional differences between Skiba's and Andriano's songwriting narrow, shaping a sound that makes listening fluid and captivating like never before.

This approach also lends itself to a new complexity in the structure of songs, now decidedly less predictable than the verse-chorus formula, combining feverish and inspired guitars with irresistible melodies.

"Hot for Preacher" sets the tone for a tracklist that delves into post-hardcore with the riffing of "Versions of You." A never-so-grumpy Dan Andriano gives way to Skiba's bridge, as if "Is This Thing Cursed?" concluded with an open ending still to be explored.

The two have already alternated on vocals—it's practically a constant—but never with such surprising results. Andriano's entrance in the post-chorus of "Shake With Me" is one of the band's most euphoric moments, while "Teenage Heart" shuffles the deck with its continuous changes in melody, mood, and vocals.

Wind of change, then.

Both musically and content-wise.

Hidden behind a cover that winks at certain Pulp cinema and its posters is all the dark humor and self-irony we'd expect from Skiba after the rather stifling stint as the third blink for a limited time.

The macabre and decaying worldview of Alkaline Trio, which shaped a sound making it peculiar, now dangerously overlaps with reality.

Except instead of posing as prophets warning of the vile nature of a world lurking just beneath the surface, Matt and Dan release their humanity through these eleven new tracks to express they are as fragile and worried as we are. Suddenly, we're all Alkaline Trio.

We're talking about a band that has always had the ability to place a different perspective on the surrounding reality compared to the rest of us—and for a long time, this difference manifested through tales of horror and violence—but now their goal is different.

This work proposes itself in the noble mission of finding humanity amidst the fear permeating our daily lives.

In some respects, it's a shame: part of their hallmark lies in how they've always embraced the sensational. Now, instead, they reflect and process through their music.

"Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs" is a comforting album, an intelligent decision to change tactics, a demonstration that one can never be alone if they have Alkaline Trio.

Which, if I may, is good news. As raw, dispiriting, and dismaying as it may be, reality is always better than certain wet dreams.