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Alkaline Trio

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Alkaline Trio

Alkaline Trio (sometimes abbreviated as "Alk3") is an American punk rock band from Elgin, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, consisting of Matt Skiba (vocals, guitar), Dan Andriano (vocals, bass) and Derek Grant (drums, backing vocals). To date, the band have released six studio albums.


History

1996-2000

The band was formed in December 1996 (see 1996 in music), originally consisting of Matt Skiba (guitar/lead vocals), Rob Doran (bass/vocals), and Glenn Porter (drums/vocals), all hailing from Elgin, Illinois, in Chicago's Northwest suburbs. 1997 saw the release of the band's first EP, Sundials. This was followed shortly after by the departure of Rob Doran, after which Dan Andriano, former singer of Asian Man Records band Tuesday and bassist for Slapstick, took his place and they began recording. The band released their second EP, entitled For Your Lungs Only, in 1998, which began to build them a sizable fanbase in the American Midwest. Later on that year, the band released their first full length album, Goddamnit, followed by Maybe I'll Catch Fire in 2000 (both on Asian Man Records). Also in 2000, the band released a collection of their previously released EPs on their self-titled album.

2001-2005

In 2001, the band released From Here To Infirmary on Vagrant Records. This was their first step towards the mainstream, with music videos for the singles "Stupid Kid" and "Private Eye." Other songs from From Here To Infirmary that brought attention to the band were "Another Innocent Girl", "Crawl", and "Armageddon".

Their next full-length album was Good Mourning, released in 2003, with the album's launch single "We've Had Enough" seeing much the same success as the previous single "Stupid Kid." The album was something of a departure from earlier works, featuring greater production values and a move toward the mainstream.

The band appeared on various compilation albums, notably Plea for Peace Vol. 1, Vagrant Records: Another Year on the Streets Vol. 1, 2, and 3, and Rock Against Bush Vol. 1. Matt Skiba and Dan Andriano have both independently recorded split records, Skiba with Kevin Seconds on Asian Man Records and Andriano with Mike Felumlee on Double Zero Records, as well as jointly performing backing vocal duties on the album This is Unity Music by Common Rider. They recorded 2 split EPs: one with Hot Water Music in 2000 and the other with One Man Army in 2004.

In 2004, Dan became a member of The Falcon, a supergroup of sorts consisting of The Lawrence Arms' bassist Brendan Kelly, previously of Slapstick (alongside Dan) and The Broadways, and drummer Neil Hennessy. The Falcon also saw contributions from Todd Mohney of The Killing Tree and formerly Rise Against. The band released an EP, God Don't Make No Trash / Up Your Ass With Broken Glass in 2005 and its first full length, Unicornography in September 2006.

2005-2007

Alkaline Trio released their fifth studio album on Vagrant Records, titled Crimson, on May 24, 2005, which featured the single "Time to Waste." The single for this song also included bonus tracks produced by Squirtgun and Common Rider bassist Mass Giorgini. The tracks "Mercy Me" and "Burn" have also been released as singles from the album.

In December 2005, a dual-disc special edition re-release of Crimson hit store shelves. This album features the original cut of Crimson released earlier in the year, while the 2nd disc has demo and acoustic/live versions of some of the songs. Additionally, an enhanced version of the lyrics and liner notes are available for download with personal messages from the band members on the history and/or inspiration(s) behind the songs.

Alkaline Trio released an album of B-sides/Rarities, Live Performances, and a DVD with Performances from The Occult Roots Tour in early 2007 called Remains and put out on Vagrant Records.

In October 2006, it was announced that Alkaline Trio had signed with V2 Records [1]. On January 12, 2007, the North America branch of the label announced that they were undergoing restructuring to focus on their back catalogue and digital distribution. As a result, their employees were let go and their roster of artists left as free agents.

During late May 2007 the band began listing Epic Records as its label on their MySpace. Punknews.org has now also reported that band is on the Epic roster.

2008-Present

In February 2008, Asian Man Records released a 10th Anniversary reissue of the band's 1998 full length, Goddamnit. The disc was remixed and remastered, with 4 bonus tracks from their 1996 demo tape added, and the album was repackaged with new artwork and a feature length DVD documentary about the band's early days. Predictably, the release caused quite a bit of excitement for long-time followers of the group.

On Saturday, February 9, 2008, the band posted a message on their MySpace page explaining that they had been in the studio for three weeks working on the new album without revealing a release date or title. The band later announced via their fan club, the Blood Pact, that their upcoming album, titled Agony & Irony, would be released on July 1, 2008. [2] As a gift for members, they made a new song titled "In Vein" available as an exclusive. On April 4, they posted the song on their MySpace for 24 hours.


A contest ("Settle The Score"), was announced May 6, 2008, that encouraged fans to download sheet music of "Love Love Kiss Kiss" from the official website and send Alkaline Trio footage of their interpretation of the song before it was released by the band.

As expected, the band released Agony & Irony on July 1, 2008. First week sales for the album placed Alkaline Trio at number 13 on the Billboard album charts, making it the highest the band has ever charted to date.

In May 2009, the band revealed on stage that they are no longer signed to Epic Records, and that they will release a new album, through their own label, later in the year.[1]

Alkaline Trio is part of a very large circle of Chicago punk/hardcore bands. Skiba played drums for Jerkwater (with Rob Doran (currently in Pit er Pat); Sean Seeling (currently in Apocalypse Hoboken, ex-Tommyrot); and, Jeremiah Klinger (currently in Gregor Samsa), as well as the Chicago punk outfit The Traitors. Former drummer Glenn Porter played in Tommyrot and 88 Fingers Louie. Stemming from Andriano's previous bands, Slapstick and Tuesday (band), other artists in this family tree include: The Broadways, The Lawrence Arms, The Honor System, Smoking Popes (Rob Kellenberger from Slapstick, Tuesday and Smoking Popes side project Duvall briefly played drums for part of the Popes reunion tour before being replaced due to scheduling differences. Ironically, Kellenberger replaced original Smoking Popes drummer Mike Fellumlee, who played drums for Alkaline Trio on their album, From Here to Infirmary, after the Smoking Popes broke up, and now plays with Squirtgun). With the addition of drummer Derek Grant, Alkaline Trio's family tree has grown to include ties with bands such as The Suicide Machines, Thoughts of Ionesco and Walls of Jericho. In 2004 Dan Andriano joined the newly assembled group, The Falcon. The band reunites Andriano with fellow former Slapstick member Brendan Kelly (guitar and vocals) (currently in The Lawrence Arms) and expands the family to Neil Hennessy on drums, (also in The Lawrence Arms). Todd Mohney, former member of Rise Against, played guitar on the first EP but could not attend the recording session for the band's first full length Unicornography, and his spot was temporarily filled in by Kelly and Hennessy.

In 2006 Skiba started the side-project Heavens with Josiah Steinbrick, previously of F-Minus. Their debut album, Patent Pending was released on Epitaph Records.

Band members

Current members

  • Matt Skiba - lead vocals, guitar (1996–present)
  • Dan Andriano - lead vocals, bass (1997–present)
  • Derek Grant - drums, percussion, backing vocals (2001–present)

Former members

Touring members

Discography

Main article: Alkaline Trio discography

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.stereokill.net/2009/05/alkaline-trio-no-longer-on-epic-records/
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