This Addiction could have returned Alkaline Trio to the group’s glory days and punk roots, but little things derail that from happening. The record kicks off with a stripped-down sound on “This Addiction,” a track that highlights Matt Skiba’s fierce voice. A handful of similarly unostentatious power-chord-driven numbers here feature Skiba’s lyrical ingenuity. That said, the tunes that Dan Andriano fronts are dreadful. They just don’t sound like Alkaline Trio.

THIS ADDICTION
Alkaline Trio

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In fact, they are almost sickeningly cheery — like what would happen if Coldplay suddenly wrote some punk songs. “Draculina” should’ve been great, but comes off as a forced attempt to make a “dark” song. “Eating Me Alive” is a Duran Duran-ish flop. Maybe it’s appropriate that a band that historically loves the macabre would succumb to self-inflicted stabs in the end.

DOWNLOAD: “This Addiction”