•
Rating:
After the success of the previous "From Here To Infirmary," Alkaline Trio is back with "Good Mourning," the fourth studio album, which also features the addition of Derek Grant (ex-Suicide Machines) on drums, replacing Mike Feumlee.
The album title, (literally good mourning), already says a lot about the kind of lyrics and music from the trio; it proves to be a very dark and melancholic album. It further accentuates the band's originality in creating emotional and catchy melodies, yet at the same time very romantic and dark. However, as always, there are also more carefree tunes.
The start is already among the best with "This Could Be Love" which, besides having one of the most successful melodies ever, is truly a great composition. It features a slow and painful rhythm in the verses, excellently interpreted by Matt Skiba, a piece that synthesizes the band's style.
But not to miss anything, the Chicagoans, unlike the previous work, offer us more energetic and very sharp tracks, an example being "We've Had Enough," also released as a single and definitely the most exhilarating of the bunch. A song with decidedly punk-rock hints, quite atypical at least for them, and the overlap of the two voices at the end is excellent. Whereas it returns more to the norm with "100 Stories" sung by Andriano and leaning towards pop-punk. It is followed by the softer "Continental," dedicated to a friend lost to drugs.
"All on Black" is another ballad with strong emo tones, continuing the narrative of the previous track, in which Skiba's excellent vocal performance emerges, playing on the huskier nuances of his voice and concluding with a nice final solo. Definitely one of the best on an emotional level. The melody becomes more light-hearted again with the power-pop-punk of "Emma." The same standards can be found in the festive "Blue Caroline" sung by Andriano.
But the real surprises of the album are certainly in the fury of "Fatally Yours" (which I don't label as hardcore only because the group is not inclined to the genre), a very brief track with a frenzied rhythm, and "Donner Party." In "Every Thug Needs a Lady" there's notable use of an acoustic guitar intertwined with electrics.
The album advances toward its conclusion with "Donner Party," "If We Never Go Inside," and "Blue in the Face." The first of these is the most energetic, followed by the decent and catchy "If We Never Go Inside." The final farewell is with the slow and sweet ballad played only with the acoustic guitar "Blue in the Face."
The album is definitely worth it, although it experiences a slight decline in the second part where the tracks become slightly more predictable. However, the personal touch that the group manages to give to their music is undeniable and recognizable.
In short, we may not be facing another "From Here To Infirmary" or "Crimson," but the album is quite enjoyable to listen to.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 We've Had Enough (02:51)
In the shadows where the heads hang low
You hear the voices as the wind blows
Asking can't you see?
Reminding you to breath
It's only time before it catches up
To you and all your broken luck
I've found a better way
To get even with my memory
In the darkness where the angels cry
Give us water, give us back our lives
Our beds, this concrete floor, and it's
All we have left to live for
A day we'll never face, we're only
Second-handed, sick, and lonely
Fighting back the tears
And every urge to Van Gogh both our ears
That's it, we've had enough
Please turn that fucking radio off
Ain't nothing on the air wave in the despair we feel
No!
In the shadows where the heads hang low
You hear the voices as the wind blows
Asking can't you see?
Reminding you to breath
It's only time before it catches up
To you and all your broken luck
I've found a better way
To get even with my enemies
That's it, we've had enough
Please turn that fucking radio off
Ain't nothing on the air wave in the despair we feel
That said, We've had enough
Put 'Walk Among Us' on and turn it up
Ain't nothing on the air wave in the hatred we feel
No!
This is our biggest fear
The only tunes that we hear
Come via antenna to your car radio, oh no, no
No!
That's it, we've had enough
(We've had enough)
That's it, we've had enough
(We've had enough)
03 One Hundred Stories (03:39)
You're in the next room sleeping and
I'm shouting out a song for you
I shouldn't wake you over the furnace,
but I should swear to someone you'd have loved every note
So dream a good one tonight
I'll listen to the bad ones when they come
Get up in my ear 'till I hear every word
Every turn of your tongue, I will tighten my grip
No one could tell even if I fell 100 stories straight down, down, down
No one could tell even if I fell 100 stories down
I was getting bored with hurting myself
If you fall down enough, well soon enough,
you will find hell
It can't be as� as pretty as we hoped it would be
It's not even warm here, not even ten degrees
This bed is too big to sleep in,
and I'm dying just to feel you breath
You couldn't see across the ocean,
but I was turning over 'till the vampires sleep
So dream a good one tonight
I'll listen to the bad ones when they come
Get up in my ear 'till I hear every word
Every turn of your tongue, I will tighten my grip
No one could tell even if I fell 100 stories straight down, down, down
No one could tell even if I fell 100 stories down
I was getting bored with hurting myself
If you fall down enough, well soon enough, you will find hell
It can't be as� as pretty as we hoped it would be
It's not even warm here, not even ten degrees
Dream a good one tonight
Dream a good one tonight
Dream a good one tonight
Dream a good one tonight
I was getting bored with hurting myself
So dream a good one tonight
I was getting bored with hurting myself
So dream a good one tonight
I was getting bored with hurting myself
So dream a good one tonight
I was getting bored with hurting myself
04 Continental (03:27)
I've got a dying urge to feel the way you do
Too close for comfort, bed and breakfast in a spoon
The shortest breath of your young life
A long walk home on Friday night
You made one last stop at the store
So close to perfect, swear to hell, thought it was you
This bouncing baby boy's now turning baby blue
I've got your pictures on my walls
I've got a long list of calls I must make to your existing family
You had nine lives and one by one you chewed 'em up
Your final coffin nail's been driven far too much
This won't take long, you said, I'm not going far
Go wait in the car
Go wait in the car
I often wonder what it feels like to be you
A mess like this stuck on your hands with crazy glue
Ran out of time, no kiss goodbye
Wish I could learn to let this sleeping dog die without lying to myself
You had nine lives and one by one you chewed 'em up
Your final coffin nail's been driven far too much
This won't take long, you said, I'm not going far
Go wait in the car
Go wait in the car
You had nine lives and one by one you chewed 'em up
Your final coffin nail's been driven far too much
This won't take long, you said, I'm not going far
Go wait in the car
Go wait in the car
06 Emma (02:42)
Emma appeared like an angel
Emma fell like rain
Into my lap like a heart attack, like lightning from her name
I'm running dry of bad excuses
Don't want to lie or seem intrusive
But time hasn't told me anything, and neither has she
A poinsettia in poison rain
Traded true love for insult and injury
We washed it down the drain with one silver bullet and two vicodin
With two vicodin
Emma woke up in darkness, suitcase already packed
Note on the bedstand signed in blood, "Sincerely, never coming back."
A nightmare on my street the day she arrived
A nightmarish household in which she died, because it made her feel at home
Somehow made me feel at home
A poinsettia in poison rain
Traded true love for insult and injury
We washed it down the drain with one wooden stake through the heart and two vicodin
A poinsettia in poison rain
Traded true love for insult and injury
We washed it down the drain with one silver bullet and two vicodin
We watched the sun fall crown on a city that sleeps in a world upside down
A slow ticket straight out of town
You went out with a bang when you took with you all my dreams underground
With you all my dreams underground
07 Fatally Yours (02:16)
There's no mystery no more, just no talking to you
Guess you had other things in store
Guess I felt I was through
I answered every question as accurately as I could
I don't hear from you no more, but I get the message
You crashed your car through my front door, I pulled you from the wreckage
You told me that you missed me
But you meant with the grill and hood
You'd kill me if you could
And if it's okay, I'll just grab my shit and leave
I won't say one word, I'll keep my tricks up my sleeve
Flew off of the handle, you opened fire on me
Put me down, put me out of misery
I'm fatally yours
You set fire to me that night, you lit and left me burning
Out of my mind, but in my sights, I saw the tables turning
I had a friend that needed me
You made a wish that won't come true, and now it's killing two
And if it's okay, I'll just grab my shit and leave
I won't say one word, I'll keep my tricks up my sleeve
Flew off of the handle, you opened fire on me
Put me down, put me out of misery
I'm fatally yours
I'm fatally yours
I'm fatally yours
I'm fatally yours
I'm fatally yours.
08 Every Thug Needs a Lady (03:17)
I know it's dark here, you know that I'm scared too
For some reason right now, of everything but you
Right now you're all that I recognize
You know I came here when I needed your soft voice
I needed to hear something that sounded like an answer
Now I wait here, and sometimes I get one
It's nothing I'll forget when the moon gets tired
You are stuck to me everyday
Believe in what I am because it's all I have today
And tomorrow who knows where we'll be
From here I can hardly see a thing
But I will follow anyone who brings me to you
For now, forever, for on and on and on
You know it starts here, outside waiting in the cold
Kiss me once in the snow, I swear it never gets old
And I will promise you I can make it warmer next year
You know I came here when I needed your soft voice
I needed to hear something that sounded like an answer
Now I stay here, and everyday I get one
It's nothing I'll forget when the moon gets tired
You are stuck to me everyday
Believe in what I am because it's all I have today
And tomorrow who knows where we'll be
From here I can hardly see a thing
But I will follow anyone who brings me to you
For now, forever, for on and on and on
So go plug in your electric blanket
We can stay in 'till our southern summer wedding day
Go plug in your electric blanket
We can stay here
12 Blue in the Face (03:02)
It's about time that I came clean with you
I'm no longer fine, I'm no longer running smooth
I though that I found myself under something new
Just one more line I repeat over and over again
'Till I'm blue in the face with a choking regret
Because I talk in circles 'round you on my bed
Can't say I blame you one bit when you kept it all inside
When you left that night
It's about time that you got sick of me
No longer fun, and so far from interesting
I thought that I found me a cure for feeling old
Just one more line to keep me sleeping loudly and cold
In disgrace with a shameful regret
As I talk in tongues to myself in my bed
Can't say I blame you one bit when you kept it all inside
When you left that night
And all that followed fell like mercury to hell
Somehow we lost our heads for the last time
And all that followed fell like mercury to hell
Somehow we lost our heads for the last time
And I don't dream since I quit sleeping
And I haven't slept since I met you
And you can't breathe without coughing at daytime
And neither can I
So what do you say?
Your coffin, or mine?
Loading comments slowly
