After a five-year hiatus, Alkaline Trio is back with a new punk album, Is This Thing Cursed?
The new record is good, but not great. After twenty years together, you would expect the band to evolve and take some risks, but the record plays it safe, sticking to the band’s signature style.
This could mean the band knows how to play to its strengths, but it could also be a sign of comfortability with its current fan base and a lack of desire to entice anyone else.
The record contains the lyrical talent and edge that makes the band different, but the repetitiveness that makes the band blend in is also present.
There are interesting points on the record and it is well put together, it’s just not groundbreaking.
“Blackbird” is one of the hardest tracks on the album. Though the band is known for covering depressing topics, this song feels darker than its usual work production wise. It’s guitar heavy the whole way through and it has a haunting ring to it. “Demon and Division,” on the other hand, is the best of the singles that came out leading up to the album’s release. It’s catchy and upbeat. Where “Blackbird” makes you want to hang your head, “Demon and Division” makes you want to dance.
The title track is one of the album’s worst. It feels childish. Upon first listen, the intro’s slow tempo seems like a promising change up, but when it picks up for the chorus, all intrigue evaporates. The lyrics are some of the worst the band has to offer; the story is more surface level than the band’s usual work.
Tracks like “Heart Attacks,” however, redeem the record by restoring the listeners’ interest. It sounds like a cross between garageband and Warped Tour vibes. With some metal influence, Alkaline successfully avoids going too hardcore.
“Stay” is beautiful and different. It’s less formulaic than the majority of the record. A modern love song with a twist, the track is reminiscent of some of the band’s career highpoints.
“Kiss You to Death” off 2013’s My Shame is True is one of the band’s best songs of the decade. Pieces of that perfection can be heard in the melody “Stay.” Both love songs share the theme of not being able to resist a lover, even in rough points in the relationship.
“Sweet Vampires” is another high point on the record. It’s the band’s return to the deep and dark lyrics that make them special. It’s still a rock song, but the music is toned down enough not to overshadow the lyrics.
The album closes with a gem. “Krystalline” is the perfect ballad. It blends All Time Low and Weezer, stylistically, for the perfect pop punk result. The emotions run deep on most of the band’s catalogue, but this one feels more relatable than the rest for the general public. The sadness in the song is disguised by sweetness and a heartwarming reunion. The spooky outro is the best production on the entire record.
Although Is This Thing Cursed? is not the band’s best work, “Krystalline” proves that Alkaline still has that softer side to them. It’s this aspect of the band’s reach that intrigues romantics along with metalheads.
