From Here to Infirmary
Alkaline Trio have a useful gift for making a terrible situation sound almost inviting. From Here to Infirmary is full of drinking, disappointment and badly managed relationships, yet its strongest songs move with an energy that makes the misery surprisingly enjoyable. The sharp humour matters as much as the dark subject matter. Matt Skiba and Dan Andriano do not always sound like people offering reliable advice, which is part of the appeal.
The clearer, more accessible arrangements put greater pressure on the tunes, and much of the record meets that pressure well. Private Eye has an immediate sense of character, while Stupid Kid makes its bluntness useful by keeping the song short and the hook clear. Armageddon turns a large title into a quick, lively performance whose urgency feels earned by the rhythm. These songs do not need rough production to establish a personality. The voices and the writing already give them one, with small changes in emphasis keeping the familiar guitar shapes alive.
Andriano's contributions add important variety. Take Lots with Alcohol and Another Innocent Girl approach the record's emotional problems with a different vocal weight, and I'm Dying Tomorrow finds a particularly appealing balance between anxiety and momentum. The songs help the album avoid becoming one long version of the same sardonic complaint. The sequence is less secure in places, with You're Dead and Bloodied Up taking longer to establish their own identities. There are strong moments inside them, but the writing does not always sustain the same level of distinction as the opening run.
Crawl provides a convincing answer at the end. Its melody gives the weariness room to register, and the performance becomes stronger as the emotion grows less controlled. That ending makes the album's accessibility feel like a means of exposing the feelings more clearly. From Here to Infirmary has uneven patches, but its best songs make a good tune and a bad decision seem unusually well suited to one another.
