Alkaline Trio: Matt Skiba (vocals, guitar); Daniel Andriano (vocals, bass); Derek Grant (drums).

Though most of the songs on the Alkaline Trio's GOOD MOURNING don't seem to be literally about death, titles like “Fatally Yours” and “All On Black” (not to mention the pictures of crosses and white lilies that adorn the disc's packaging) suggest a rather fatalistic listening experience. In this case, first impressions are only partly accurate. Over the course of a half-dozen solid albums, the Alkaline Trio has positioned itself as a kind of anti-Blink 182; sonically, the band deals in the same stripped-down vocal harmony-laden pop-punk, but trades the lyrical frat boy frivolity for stark, serious ruminations on interpersonal relationships' most angst-ridden moments. Here, the trio continues to refine its approach, delivering every tune with a single-minded earnestness that practically defines the emo-core aesthetic.

What the critics say…

Rolling Stone (5/29/03, p.62) – 3 stars out of 5 – “…There's enough murder and mayhem to satisfy any SCARFACE groupie…”
Spin (6/03, pp.99–100) – “…Their best by a mile…” – Grade: A-r
Entertainment Weekly (6/20/03, p.73) – “…At a time when most emo-core blandly follows a mall-rat-shallow blueprint, Alkaline Trio provide some much-needed counterpoint. Black humor never sounded so sweet…” – Rating: B+
CMJ (5/26/03, p.6) – “…The self-deprecating humor and Warped Tour cynicism that helped solidify the Alkaline Trio's entree into poppy melodicism intermingle for another 12 bleak odes, distinguished by reverberating guitar lines and, yes, even chimes…”
Kerrang (Magazine) (p.53) – “Blood-soaked poetry, relationship trauma and delicious melodies all set alongside each other…”
Mojo (Publisher) (7/03, p.108) – 4 stars out of 5 – “…The Alkaline Trio have delivered an album offering far more than the pink blush of awkward adolescence…”