Alkaline Trio charges back onto the pop punk scene with its April 2 release, “My Shame Is True,” a well-written collection of sorrowful ballads and catchy rock songs.
Guitarist and vocalist Matt Skiba took an emotional approach to writing the record, saying in an interview with “Spin” magazine, “This record was catharsis … I just wrote this one more as like a love letter to my ex-girlfriend or an apology note set to music.”
Skiba’s romantic sentiments are evident throughout “My Shame Is True,” resulting in one of the most affecting albums in Alkaline Trio’s lengthy library.
One of the album’s more somber songs, “Midnight Blue,” begins with only vocals and guitar, giving the song an intimate feel, as though the listener is eavesdropping on a private conversation about the loss of a relationship. The instrumentation builds, perfectly complementing Skiba’s sincere vocals, save for the lead guitar, which is unfittingly blithe.
“I Wanna Be a Warhol,” a song about longing to be remembered, is equally personal.
With an upbeat guitar and synthesizer behind him, Skiba sings, “I wanna be a Warhol / Displayed on your wall / Hung up and staring back at you.”
Bassist Dan Andriano also contributes poignant song writing to the album with the confessional “I’m Only Here to Disappoint” and the angst-fueled “I, Pessimist,” which features Rise Against front man Tim McIlrath as a guest vocalist.
The band surprises on the album with a number of songs that feel more like the band members’ solo material than Alkaline Trio songs.
“Kiss You to Death,” “Until Death Do Us Part” and “One Last Dance,” noticeably void of the Trio’s trademark macabre metaphors, feel like songs from Skiba’s side project, Matt Skiba and the Sekrets.
Andriano makes the most dramatic musical deviation from the Alkaline Trio sound with “Only Love,” a song with a piano part that would feel more at home in a Coldplay song. The deviation works, however, and the song is by far the most accomplished on the album, perfectly capturing the bonding power of love.
Despite a clear move in a new direction, “My Shame Is True” does contain some throwbacks to the old Alkaline Trio style, such as the rhythmic, guitar-heavy “Torture Doctor,” a song about serial killer Dr. H. H. Holmes.
The most back-to-roots song on the album is “The Temptation of St. Anthony,” which sounds like a long-lost song from the band’s 2000 release “Maybe I’ll Catch Fire.”
The bare-bones production is highlighted by Andriano’s elaborate bass playing and Skiba’s powerful vocals.
With a simple vocal melody and guitar part, “She Lied to the FBI” is also a nod to older Alkaline Trio songs, although it lacks the lyrical magic of earlier material.
Although there are a few instances of stale lyrics, Alkaline Trio, nine studio albums into its career, has recorded a fresh, impactful record, mixing just the right amount of new ideas into its tried-and-true formula, earning “My Shame Is True” 4.5 out of 5 stars.
