The Alkaline Trio: Matt Skiba (vocals, guitar); Dan Andrianno (vocals, piano, bass); Mike Felumlee (drums).
Recorded at Pachyderm Studios, Cannon Falls, Minneapolis.
This three-piece punk outfit comes out with all guns blazing on FROM HERE TO INFIRMARY. Throughout the album, the Alkaline Trio maintains a blazing, three-chord barrage whose stylistic pedigree runs through Green Day all the way back to first-generation punks like the Buzzcocks.
For an accurate picture of the Trio's approach, picture the hard-hitting hooks of a Blink 182 mated with intelligent lyrics (a rare enough commodity in heavy rock to begin with) that nearly reach the philosophical heights of Bad Religion–the degree of introspection presented in the Alkaline Trio's lyrics is unprecedented. But once you focus on the raging rhythms and guitar firestorms, everything else is gravy. Put these boys down as Green Day sans the brattiness after a few college courses.
What the critics say…
Rolling Stone (6/7/01, p.110) – 3.5 stars out of 5 – “…Catchy punk
pop with sharp elbows and a wry sense of humor…laying waste to old
relationships and drinks hard over a barrage of 3-chord nastiness…”
Alternative Press (7/01, p.58) – 7 out of 10 – “…Fairly
straightforward melodic pop-punk…pulling the listener into a nightmare of
emotions…”
CMJ (4/23/01, p.10) – “…Hook-laden and driving…they get a pretty
accurate mix of the singalong market…the pop-punk snarl…and the fun
part…”
Kerrang (Magazine) (p.53) – “[With] sharp, emotional, but witty lyrics and
a knack for uplifting and insanely infectious pop sensibilities.”