The new year promises new horizons for Alkaline Trio. In October, the band announced it was moving record labels from punk/emo stalwarts Vagrant to V2 Records (oops!), for which it was to have recorded its sixth studio album in. In the meantime, it is releasing Remains, an odds-and-sods collection of b-sides, compilation tracks, cuts from split EPs with other bands, and a trio of new live songs. Unlike similar releases from other bands, this is not just a tossed-off collection of musical detritus. At 22 tracks and 70 minutes, it is stuffed full of trademark Alkaline Trio music—melodic and blistering punk rock upheld by the vocal talents of Matt Skiba and Dan Andriano. These songs may not have fit on any traditional Alkaline Trio albums, but this does not mean that they are of any lesser quality. “Hell Yes,” the A-side of the 2001 7” of the same name, and “Jaked On Green Beers” from the first Atticus compilation, are as driving and catchy as anything the band has written, while “My Standard Break From Life” and “If You Had a Bad Time” feature Andriano’s rough baritone showing a different and perhaps more sensitive side to the band. Covers of Berlin’s “Metro” and The Damned’s “Wait for the Blackout” are not essential, but they provide an interesting change of pace, and Andriano’s live acoustic take on “My Standard Break from Life” proves as worthwhile as the studio recording. These songs and others make Remains at worst a serviceable way to complete your Alkaline Trio collection. At best, it is the perfect complement to the band’s proper albums.
~ Frank Valish
Release date: January 30, 2007
Buy Album from CD Universe
