Music is like a drug to me. One could argue that there’s some sort of chemical addiction that possesses and compels me to consume music in any form. My days of playing it are behind me, but my appreciation for its multiple forms are still very alive. Combine that with my penchant for listening to music at any stage of the day, and I’m a junkie. Consumption, entertainment, analysis, you name it, I’m hooked.

So it’s only appropriate that on ‘New Music Monday’ (a day late) that I review a record that I recently stumbled on to which is the aural listening equivalent to heroin. The damn thing is just so fun to listen to and is appropriately named considering my uncontrollable and unmediated need for musical fixes.

The Chicago based punk trio appropriately named Alkaline Trio recently released their latest studio album, “This Addiction.” And as I mentioned above, I’m hooked like a crackhead junkie. The album is infectious from beginning to end and the songs are all entertaining. The topics of the songs are nothing new or original. Relationships and breakups. But hey, that’s what makes this record universal. It’s not like they’re doing innovative but it’s catchy, fun to listen to, and not ‘heavy’ or weighted down by message or music.


Alkaline Trio has been around for sometime but for one reason or another, I’ve never been really into them. “This Addiction” is their seventh studio album in the last 12 years. That, my friends, is longevity. After hearing the first single, I thought to myself, “Self, these dudes play music you like.” So after picking up “This Addiction,” I picked up three of their older releases. Each one is great in its own right. But what makes “This Addiction” better is the fact that the band released this on their own label allowing for a slight bit more creative freedom. The result? Success and a very entertaining record in any circumstance.

“This Addiction” contains some great songs; starting with the title track linking a relationship to the metaphor of a heroin addiction. While that sounds a little dark to some of you ‘purer’ readers, consider the analogy. In all honesty, how many of us are ‘addicted’ to the significant other in our lives? Whether functional or dysfunctional, we all feed of the chemical dependency of love (or drama) in our relationships. The album is short with only 11 songs all about three minutes long. So one would think there is not much to pick from. On the contrary, picking three songs off of the album was somewhat challenging as I enjoyed them all.

Dead on the Floor – I love the bass line in this song. It’s all over the place and makes the song even more musically interesting to listen to. But from a concept, a song about a relationship failure isn’t a new topic. But as humans, we all look for someone suffering worse than us. The classic misery loves company mantra. In an ironically factual lyric about miscommunication in relationships, “When you asked me if I’d stay forever. Guess you meant just for the week.”

Eating me Alive – While only being a trio, this song has keys and some crazy below-the-radar doo-wop voices added during recording. Musically, the song is very simple and formulaic in its layout. But it’s totally the Cure meets the Talking Heads which makes it great. And this just in, another song about a failed relationship.

Piss and Vinegar – The title of this song makes it an instant classic.



As a veteran of the Vans Warped Tour, you can’t go wrong with any album from Alkaline Trio. All are great. I personally like “This Addiction” and “Agony & Irony” the best. They aren’t a super-polished pop band easy on the ears. There’s an appreciated edginess to the lead singer’s voice and the music. Furthermore, listening to it infects you with the punk edginess. As a matter of fact, we were listening to the album while making dinner the other evening when Son #1 turned to me nonchalantly and mused, “This song makes me want to jump off of the couch.” He then continues on in a more subtle whisper, “Too bad my mom is here.” Do you need another reason to listen? This isn’t politically charged or angry anti-authority punk. This is sunny-summer-where’s-my-skateboard-because-I-want-to-shred-the-local-shopping-mall-parking-lot-because-my-girlfriend-dumped-me music. Or, it’s I-want-to-jump-off-the-couch-because-it-seems-like-the-right-thing-to-do music.