Alkaline Trio set themselves apart

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Windy City punks, Alkaline Trio, swept through House of Blues for a sold-out show on Saturday night with their looming songs of gloom and doom.

Before the trio’s performance, fans were submerged in the strident, punkafied sounds of both American Steel and The Fashion.

While waiting for Alkaline to appear, restless concert goers made some rebel yells of their own. Fans, a few with silver-studded punctuation marks in their bearded mugs, rowdily started singing what sounded like Irish drinking songs while pumping their tatted arms in midair. They raised their cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon, the punkers’ quintessential beverage of choice, just as Alkaline Trio took to the stage with fury.

These spooky kids have molded their sound into something friendly yet sinister— say a sharp dagger slathered in marshmallow spread.

Two members of the trio are self-proclaimed Satanists, and even carry cards to identify themselves as such. Yes, stashed between the voter registration and library cards you can find their legal connection to Lucifer.

Oddly, lead singer, Matt Skiba, is also a devout vegetarian and active member of PETA. Doesn’t this present a problem when the ritual animal sacrifice rolls around?

Alkaline opened with “Calling All Skeletons.” While it sounds like the title of a Goosebumps adolescent novel, it proved to be a poppy punk tune about a relationship gone rocky. In this less than four minute track you get all the elements of a twisted Stephen King classic set to riffs and hand-claps. The infectious chords won me over. All my reservations about this trio were thrown away, like an emptied can of PBR, when Skiba mournfully belted out, “These feelings tend to leave me with a hole in my chest…” The sense of sincerity found within his surprisingly strong voice had my own heart jumping, like the rabid fans inside HOB.

 “This Could be Love” sang like a morbid manual on how to destroy your significant other—“Step one - slit my throat/Step two - play in my blood/Step three - cover me in dirty sheets and run laughing out of the house.” While Skiba shouted out the lyrics, I became distracted by the rosary beads that dangled around his neck and began to ponder what the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) would think of this demented ditty. I personally found the gruesome tune to be just the right blend of creepy and creative. Kudos must be given to the Alkaline boys for their sense of metaphor. Pairing talk of mutilation with in-your- face manic melody was a complete crowd-pleaser.

Who would have thought this trio, that is more suited for the horror flick “The Hills Have Eyes,” would make it on to MTV’s hit reality drama “The Hills.”

They rock out an array of dark subject matter, usually tangled within a web of three chords. It’s the kind of instrumental music that wouldn’t initially make your granny’s face contort like origami. But, the graphic lyrics that follow are sure to offend.

The encore provided attendees with a coffin-load of frantic themes, which fans have come to expect from the Chi-Town boys.

They closed with the ultimate revenge-on-an-ex anthem “Radio.” It began with the opening lyric “Shaking like a dog shittin' razorblades...” The gore level continued to elevate as Alkaline Trio played on—“I wish you would take my radio to bathe with you, plugged in and ready to fall…”

Fans belted out every word with as much fervor as Skiba, while switching between hostile finger pointing and the metal horns hand sign.

Jello Biafra, lead singer of San Fran punk band the Dead Kennedys, once said, “Punk is not dead. Punk will only die when corporations can exploit and mass produce it.” His words circled around in my head, as I contemplated that the show I had just seen was presented by Hot Topic and that the headliner recently made bank with a “Heart and Sole” Nike Air Zoom Cush sneaker.

But, on this Saturday night the music spoke for itself and the DIY principles, on which Alkaline Trio was built, bled through—heavily. They heartily delivered new songs, such as emo-esque “Help Me” and “In Vein” and also managed to squeeze in some old-school favorites like “Nose Over Tail.” All were played with chaotic passion and precision. Tight bass lines, powerful drumming and raw charisma set them apart from the packs of posers.

These Chicago cronies have been rockin’ out ghoulishly aggressive songs for over a decade, proving that their shelf life is long lasting. Looks like Alkaline Trio isn’t going to corrode any time soon. May as well smear on some eyeliner, wallow in self-pity and secure yourself a place in the mosh pit.

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