Blood, hair and eyeballs

Alkaline Trio

Blood, hair and eyeballs

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January 24, 2024
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By Frank Valish

Blood, hair and eyeballs is the 10th album by Alkaline Trio. Let it sink in. Since adding bassist Dan Andriano before the band's first full length, Damn it!, In 1998, the trio with Matt Skiba managed to transcend punk from the late '90s, early emo, and all the years since, when so many of their contemporaries seemed to outgrow their roots. Over 10 albums, Alkaline Trio have managed to stay true to their core sound while also maturing subtly enough to continue to like Damn it! difficult, while at the same time expanding its palette slightly enough to continue to remain interesting.

Blood, hair and eyeballs is the next chapter. The album kicks off with the wordplay 'Hot for Preacher', a track centered on a riff that's more metal than punk. “Meet Me” features the signature sing-along melodies that Akaline Trio do so well. And on the third song, Andriano takes a lead vocal turn on the screeching, furious “Versions of You,” a song that lives up to the best in the band's catalog.

The rest of the album proceeds similarly. “Break” references the blood and gore that was so front and center on the band's 2003 breakthrough good morning. The title track blatantly but effectively uses the word “motherfuckin”. And the album closes with “Teenage Heart,” a giant tune about the disenchanted, AR-15 and name-checking fentanyl. The band's signature sound is apparently intact Blood, hair and eyeballs, but the songs are delivered with such immediacy and melodic intensity that the new wrinkles are amplified and any similarity rendered useless. (www.alkalinetrio.com)

Author Rating: 7/10