Sound for Language

Song Enjoyment 70: Running on Autopilot

Radio- Alkaline Trio

We all know that I love Alkaline Trio. And if you don’t know, I love Alkaline Trio. I’ve written about them numerous times on this blog thing of mine, posted however many of their songs, basically I’ve been a dedicated fan since I was 13. I remember I wanted to be Dan Andriano when I first started playing the bass because I thought he was so good (If I didn’t toss my dreams of being a musician out of the window I’d still want to be him). And Matt Skiba was essentially my idol when I was younger. I have so many memories involving them it’s ridiculous. Somehow Trio became ingrained in my life. I’ve loved them and their music for years and they’ve helped me find more music (particularly from the Slapstick family tree) to relate my ~pain~ as well. Life would be scarily different without this band in my CD collection. I remember in the booklet for the reissue of Goddamnit, Brendan Kelly (of The Lawrence Arms) had a whole essay about the album. ‘The celebration of the shitty, and the happy chorus about being totally fucked and in love with someone who doesn’t know you exist’. Brendan put into words how I feel about the band now in my life with that essay. I am wasting my life, I’m fucked up, and Alkaline Trio celebrates that and makes me feel perfect about it. 

Older Trio is something to behold. It’s raw and oozes with the sense of, well, being fucked up. Later Trio (probably after they left Asian Man Records) is great as well, but there’s just something special in those first albums and EPs. Something about how evil the guitar sounds and how driving Glen’s drums are, in addition to Danny’s sweet bass. Maybe I’ll Catch Fire is, in addition to the self titled compilation which I count as an album, my favorite Trio album. It’s darker than Goddamnit, in terms of Matt’s songs anyway, and I just eat that shit up. I feel like everyone forgets about it, even Trio themselves. Other than this song. This is the closing song. The anthem of the fucked up. This song says everything you’ve ever wanted to say to that motherfucker who broke your heart in half but still love; essentially a big ‘fuck off and die’. But it’s a perfect ‘fuck off and die’. Sitting here listening to it while writing this, I feel connected to the sentiment more than I really should. Because I feel this exact way. That is why when they play this in concert you can barely hear them play over the sound of everyone singing. Because we’re all a bunch of vengeful bastards with broken hearts and fucked up ideas. And you know what? That’s perfectly okay. It’s human.