"Making the Most of a Bad Time"

A few weeks ago on this site, I called Alkaline Trio's Matt Skiba a genius and wrote that the band's songs depict "every strain of heartbreak, revenge, rejection, and catastrophic no-mance you and I have ever survived." I'm still listening to a shit-ton of Alkaline Trio these days, and I'm sticking with my prior conclusions. Until a month or six weeks ago, I had never really gotten any Alkaline Trio on me. I was aware of the band, but oblivious to the music. I read an interview with Skiba (in Inked, I think), and grew more curious. The first few tracks I heard really put the hook in me.

I've been an Alkaline Trio hunter-gatherer lately, "borrowing" their MP3s off the so-called Internet, and legally purchasing what I can't borrow. I've gone pretty deep into the back-catalogue of albums, EPs, and b-sides, and I have been well-rewarded for the efforts. A few of their already-bulletproof albums are available in special editions with alt-versions and demos tacked on. The newest,This Addiction, can be had with six bonus tracks (including acoustic versions) and a DVD of the band live in Vegas -- for $15 of your hard-earned. The acoustic versions of "Dead on the Floor" and the title track are even better than their plugged-in, louder renderings.

The best part? These guys are crushing where it counts -- live.

After a nor'easter flooded The Starland Ballroom in New Jersey, forcing the club to cancel the Alkaline Trio's March 13th show, band and their management worked fast and got themselves booked into a March 15th show at the Gramercy Theater in Manhattan. Info was spread by word of Web; the band posted the news on their Facebook and Myspace pages, and fans and friends took it from there. It was one of the best shows I've seen in years. The band landed on it like a ton of bricks.

I grabbed a half minute of video as they laced into one of my favorite AT songs. The hand you'll see at the end off the clip belongs to a member of Gramercy Theater security. Sorry, guy; you caught me stealing thirty seconds of low-res video from about 75 feet away. My excuse is I am getting old and I'm afraid my memory wasn't what it once was. It helps to have video on my phone so I'll always be able to remember the days before the nurses took my phone and my favorite sharp items away.

Click here for video clip...
Stupid Kid - Alkaline Trio.3GP

Here's what you're hearing:

There are things that used to make me smile

One of them was you for just a little while

You left me for dead so far away

I replaced you with fear and shame

You'll be happy on the day I die.

There are things that used to make me laugh

But now they're deeply buried in the past

I left them there so far away

Replaced my humor with my pain

I'll be happy on the day it dies.

When the set was over and the band had left the stage, the audience started singing. They were singing the same song. It was pretty cool. The band came back for the encore and swapped instruments; completely reminding me of an old flame -- The Replacements. Skiba, at the drums now, said he didn't remember the lyrics to the particular song the crowd was singing. The band played it anyway, and what sounded like the entire room sang it all: first verse, second verse, chorus, bridge... all of it. I thought: Iove this band, and I really dig their fans. It's pretty damn cool to hear several hundred people roar "I've got... a big fat fucking bone to pick... with you my darling!" from "Radio," another of my fave AT tunes. Maybe it is THE favorite. After a strange and tacky opening line, the song is fueled by pure, bilious rage. I love rage and bile. They are the coins of my realm. But you know that. Check out the song...

Radio

Radio (Skiba/Andriano/Porter)

Shaking like a dog shitting razorblades,
Waking up next to nothing after dreaming of you and me
I'm waking up all alone, waking up so relieved
While you're taking your time with apologies,
I'm making my plans for revenge
Red eyes on orange horizons
If Columbus was wrong I'd drive straight off the edge
I'd drive straight off the edge

Taking your own life with boredom
I'm taking my own life with wine --
It helps you to rule out the sorrow
It helps me to empty my mind
Making the most of a bad time
I'm smoking the brains from my head
Leaving the coal calling the kettle black and orange and red
This kettle is seeing red

I've got a big fat fucking bone to pick with you my darling
In case you haven't heard I'm sick and tired of trying
I wish you would take my radio to bathe with you,
Plugged in and ready to fall

Shaking like a dog shitting razorblades,
Waking up next to nothing after dreaming of you and me
I'm waking up all alone, waking up so relieved
While you're taking your time with apologies,
I'm planning out my revenge
Red eyes on orange horizons
If Columbus was wrong I'd drive straight off the edge
I'm seeing red

I've got a big fat fucking bone to pick with you my darling
In case you haven't heard I'm sick and tired of trying
I wish you would take my radio to bathe with you,
Plugged in and ready to fall

Plugged in and ready to fall