Review Summary: An excellent collection of covers and b-sides from the legendary pop punk trio. Containing many memorable songs often more so than those on their recent full lengths.
Some bands take a while to hone their sound, while others of course never quite manage it. However there are a select few that very early on in their careers discover the secret to making great music and stick at it.
Alkaline Trio of course sits firmly in the latter camp, over the years they’ve made gradual changes to their sound but never have they released a bad or even an average album. Matt Skiba and Dan Andriano are without doubt some of the most talented song writers’ pop punk has ever seen. Personally I’m more an old school Trio fan, I got into the band like many in the
From Here to Infirmary days and after seeking out their back catalogue I’m firmly of the opinion that their greatest works are also their oldest, namely
Godamnit and
Maybe I’ll Catch Fire. Yet
Good Mourning and even
Crimson are superb albums that I can come back to time and time again and never do they feel old. Progression has occurred however, from the raw feel of their early records to the more polished new material, across all their albums I can count on one hand the number of songs I would skip when listening to, in all honesty it’s probably none. Although
Alkaline Trio have never received huge mainstream success they are by no means a small band. Here in the UK they can easily sell out 2000-3000+ venues, on the back of heavy touring and a constant string of quality releases rather than flash in the pan hit singles.
Although they have been through various different drummers over the years I always enjoy how each drummer brings something different to the table. Glenn Porter has an aggressive punk style which suits perfectly their early records, where as current drummer Derek Grant is far more complex and technical for the genre. In terms of guitar playing I’ve read before that Matt claims he can’t even play a C chord. I’m not sure how long ago that was taken but I’ll concede he’s no Hendrix. Of course
Alkaline Trio’s music isn’t about technicality; it’s about honest songs that make you want to sing-a-long but at the same time retain that rock band quality instead of sounding made for the radio. For the genre Dan Andriano is a damn fine bass player, showcased more on the Indie releases he writes good, interesting bass lines which drive the songs on many occasions rather than falling back constantly on root notes. What always impresses me is that, although Matt and Dan write songs separately they still manage to form coherent albums with a similar feel rather than feeling like mess a songs that have been just thrown together.
This brings us to
Remains, a collection of B-sides gathered from over the years, intended to serve as both a final release on
Vagrant Records before the move to
V2 and as an attempt to tide over fans waiting for new material. All of the material on display was recorded after the move to
Vagrant so it’s a more recent
Alkaline Trio sound. If anything this should serve as a reminder to everyone just how damn good this band are. Some of the material here could have been a top quality song on any of there albums. The album kicks off with the sublime
Hell Yes. One of the best songs the band has written? I think so. Telling the tale of love lost, with all the references to Satan you’d expect from Matt Skiba and with a hook to match its lyrical excellence, one wonders how this didn’t make From Here to Infirmary. Lyrically it is maybe Matt’s first reference to the dark side so to speak, which later became very prominent on Good Mourning. Lyrics like,
“I rejected the faith in your holy race is what it comes down to, you said everything would work out just fine I just went crazy, I’m better now having a good time being selfish, drunk, vulgar and lazy.” Its partner on the Hell Yes EP,
Standard Break From Life is a somewhat weaker song but worth a listen all the same although UK fans will already have heard the pair as they were put on the UK version of
From Here to Infirmary. Initially released on a compilation in between FHTI and Good Mourning
Jaked on Green Bears reminds me off old Trio with better production. It’s simple but effective, with Dan’s bass particularly shining through his bass lines are great and are what make the song musically. The anthemic
“I hope this is goodbye” outro makes it one of the best here. Dan’s vocals compliment Matt’s perfectly and the really nailed the harmony on this one.
Bless me dark father, I have sinned, I've done it before and I'll do it again, cause it keeps me warm and makes you smile, been beneath me all the while, hell yes
At this point we come to the
Hot Water Music split EP. In my opinion
Queen of Pain is the best
Alkaline Trio song ever written and
While You’re Waiting is not far off.
Queen of Pain has got it all, beautiful brooding power chords which sit back in the verses before rising into majestic finale. The lyrics are some of the best ever penned by Matt Skiba,
“There’s a fire forming not too far from here, out on the east coast maybe, its resides in you my dear,” and
“You’ve got a funny way of showing off your bathroom surgery, you said you were just cooling down form plans of leaving me.” The song deals with the Heroin addiction of a friend of the band and you get the sense this is a very personal song for the band. If not coupled with
Queen of Pain, While You’re Waiting would seem a classic and it’s a shame it doesn’t survive to make live sets.
The One Man Army EP is significantly weaker however not without merit.
Sadie is found here in a less electronic form to what made
Crimson and
Fine Without You is an equally fine effort. The songs on the
One Man Army EP are strange because they are far simpler that anything on
Good Mourning or
Crimson and it seems like the Trio decided to put their material unsuitable for the more mature
Crimson on this EP.
Warbrain, the song made for the
Rock Against Bush compilation musically sounds similar to the
One Man Army EP material, it doesn’t really stand out but it’s still a very good song, which could be a highlight for a lot of other bands. Four cover songs have managed to make Remains, those being
Metro, Rooftops, Bye, Bye Love and
Wait For The Blackout. Personally
Rooftops, the
Hot Water Music cover, is my favourite but all four are reasonable if nothing extraordinary. Far and away the weakest songs here are the
Crimson b-sides, which do little over nothing for me.
This CD comes with a DVD release with some documentary footage and a few live tracks. I imagine a lot of people, myself included will already have all these b-sides, nevertheless I parted with my (Fathers) hard earned cash for the DVD, being the avid Trio fan I am. I think if you already own both the split EP’s then
Remains is not worth the money but I imagine their out of print now and so if you haven’t then it is well worth the cash. I can honestly say I’ve never seen a better collection of b-sides than this, more proof that nobody is consistently writes song after song of memorable tunes quite like Matt Skiba, Dan Andriano and Derek Grant.
Recommended Tracks
Hell Yes
Queen of Pain
Jaked on Green Bears
Fine Without You
