Run time: 35 mins

Run day – Wednesday 3rd April, 2024

I love this album. It’s my favourite Alkaline Trio album (so far, and amongst the few that I’ve listened to). There is something special about first albums – a rawness, sloppier production, less studio gloss, nothing to lose. I think Matt Skiba is a genius and severely underrated as both a lyricist and vocalist. I’m in love with him actually.

I was introduced to Alkaline Trio in high school (mid 2000s) by a classmate whom might now be considered an “elder emo”. I gave them a listen (just the “hits” up until that point) and I found them fun but didn’t really get into them because it just wasn’t the right time for me. I was an 00s “hipster” soft scene-kid who got really into progrock and indie stuff, guided by The Beatles as a throw-back throughline, and underscored by a deep, unwavering love for Jim Morrison. I was a bit of a jerk about it too. Anyway, Alkaline Trio was just too lyrically emo for my taste at the time- too many references to coffins and vampires for me. But I picked them up again in my early 20s (2010s) and fell HARD for them (and Skiba specifically). Maybe it was the time in my life, but something just clicked lyrically. There is something inherently comforting about power chords. There is something inherently comforting about songs that are in E, A, Bm or something similar. And there is something particuarly profound about Skiba’s lyrics that I think really set him apart from his contemporaries.

I really enjoyed this run because I know this album intimately – it’s like my Alkaline Trio version of Weezer Blue. Again, just like with Green Day, it’s just really fun to run to pop-punk etc – great rythms to slip into, great for pacing, and I just feel really cool when I run whilst listening to it.

Favourite track: hard to pick just one, but I think that Nose Over Tail is really special. The imagery of the lyrics are so rich and evocative and even a bit startling – like “your voice like the sound of sirens to a house on fire – you’re saving me.” Such a violent image to conjure up in a love song, but it works! Even the title “Nose Over Tail” just makes me think of a plane crash but somehow this is a romantic song and it works and I’m not cringing over it?

Special mentions: Enjoy Your Day and Message From Kathleen – I love it when a Dan song pops on, he’s just so sweet. Skiba is moody and sooky, and Dan brings the sweetness. But you know I have a thing for sooky three-piece boy-bands by now.

Ok, that’s it! Maybe I’ll Catch Fire is next (spoiler alert, I also love this album).