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
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”
