Alkaline Trio - Crimson
If you're a longtime fan of this band you know they've been on a steady march to pure pop since their second album. Each successive album is more polished, more streamlined and less angry than their earlier work. What no doubt begins as just having fun turns into something serious and bands fancy themselves as "real" songwriters that write "mature" songs. Superchunk jokingly named an album after this phenomena: "Here's Where The Strings Come In" poking fun at the point when a band starts adding orchestra elements to their songs in a bid to sound like a real band. And that's what you have here with "Crimson". This is Alkaline Trio's bid for pop stardom and boy is it boring.
I've remained a fan up until this point. I even liked the album right before this one which is also very pop but at least they kept some of the fire of their earlier work in that release. "Crimson" on the other hand starts off with the promising "Time To Waste", which sounds like a leftover from "Good Mourning", but quickly slides into boring song after boring song with "Sadie" sagging so hard in the middle you feel like picking up the cellos and breaking them in a desperate bid to hear something remotely punk rock. They recapture it a little with "Back To Hell" but that's basically two good songs out of thirteen. Even the super emo ones the other vocalist usually sings are missing the sad, sorry edge to his voice and self-loathing lyrics.
I don't want to be too harsh here but the most interesting thing in few of these songs is the vocals changing notes on a certain word. That's how bland the guitar parts are that you have to hum along with the vocals instead. That's never been a problem on their old albums but here so many of these songs sound like pop punk lite, hardly better than the drivel you see on MTV.
I would have been totally satisfied if they kept the sound and energy of the last record even though it's not my favorite but knowing they always go even poppier on every record I should have seen this coming miles away. Of course that's the nature of life, slowing down after your angry youth, so not much else can be expected but it's sad to see a band steadily slide into the banal world of pure pop. Maybe they'll pull a 180 if this album doesn't sell well and go back to the way it was...or at least I can dream.
I've remained a fan up until this point. I even liked the album right before this one which is also very pop but at least they kept some of the fire of their earlier work in that release. "Crimson" on the other hand starts off with the promising "Time To Waste", which sounds like a leftover from "Good Mourning", but quickly slides into boring song after boring song with "Sadie" sagging so hard in the middle you feel like picking up the cellos and breaking them in a desperate bid to hear something remotely punk rock. They recapture it a little with "Back To Hell" but that's basically two good songs out of thirteen. Even the super emo ones the other vocalist usually sings are missing the sad, sorry edge to his voice and self-loathing lyrics.
I don't want to be too harsh here but the most interesting thing in few of these songs is the vocals changing notes on a certain word. That's how bland the guitar parts are that you have to hum along with the vocals instead. That's never been a problem on their old albums but here so many of these songs sound like pop punk lite, hardly better than the drivel you see on MTV.
I would have been totally satisfied if they kept the sound and energy of the last record even though it's not my favorite but knowing they always go even poppier on every record I should have seen this coming miles away. Of course that's the nature of life, slowing down after your angry youth, so not much else can be expected but it's sad to see a band steadily slide into the banal world of pure pop. Maybe they'll pull a 180 if this album doesn't sell well and go back to the way it was...or at least I can dream.
