![]() ![]() Given that the album was recorded so quickly, and Andriano had to leave for a Tuesday tour in the middle of it, he recorded his backing vocals before Skiba laid down his leads. Those moments personified much of Goddamnit, as the album broke almost every rule and somehow stuck the landing. And for extended periods, they were basically just jamming, eschewing punk’s ethos of trimming anything that could be seen as indulgent and letting the music be just as expressive as the lyrics. Andriano ran circles around him, hitting every complementary note he could think of while Porter built jarring stops into his rolling fills. Opening with “Cringe,” Goddamnit put the band’s sideways approach to punk on full display, as Skiba played a simple, three-chord riff, but stretched out those first notes just a little too long and made them feel distinct. ![]() But slowly, the band’s unique blend of Jawbreaker’s heart-on-sleeve lyricism, Skiba’s darker, satanic fascinations, and their embrace of Chicago’s weirder, art-rock tendencies found a way to coalesce. Recorded over the course of five days with producer Matt Allison, Goddamnit felt no more important than any other Chicago punk record coming out at the time. In 1998, this new version of the Trio joined the Asian Man Records roster and released their first EP together, For Your Lungs Only, as a precursor to the band’s debut album. The addition of Andriano gave Alkaline Trio more depth musically, as his backing vocals gave Skiba’s songs another harmonic layer and soon, while he was still fronting his emo-leaning band Tuesday, he’d begin writing his own songs for Alkaline Trio. Andriano had previously played bass in the ska-punk band Slapstick, who split up in 1996. After the release of their SunDials seven-inch in 1996, Doran vacated his spot and Dan Andriano entered the fold. But with Alkaline Trio, he’d become the band’s face. This was due, at least in part, to Skiba being the drummer of bands such as Blunt, Jerkwater, and The Traitors, always keeping the rhythm at the back of the stage. Though Porter had gained some notoriety as the drummer of 88 Fingers Louie, neither Skiba nor Doran had reached that same level. And while it’d be incredibly convenient to say that Alkaline Trio playing the release show for Goddamnit at the Fireside was when this new scene started in earnest, the fact that show was a total disaster somehow feels more appropriate.įormed in 1996 by guitarist and vocalist Matt Skiba, bassist Rob Doran, and drummer Glenn Porter, Alkaline Trio’s start was no different from that of many of its peers. A new breed of Chicago punk was slowly bubbling up, and while it doesn’t have a definite beginning, it’s easy to see October of 1998 as the start of something. ![]() This rundown bowling alley became the go-to spot for every up-and-coming band, as well as nearly every national touring act. While these distinct subsets all constructed different outposts of the Chicagoland area, they converged at the Fireside Bowl. ![]() But by ’98, most of those bands were either broken up, breaking up, or releasing third-rate reunion records. That’s not to say it had become stagnant, as the 90s were a creatively fertile time for bands of all flavors, as everyone from Screeching Weasel to Slapstick to Los Crudos to Charles Bronson built their own pathways within the city and the nearby suburbs. In 1998, the Chicago punk was in a state of flux. The Shape of Punk revisits some of the seminal albums turning 20 years old in 2018, tracing their impact and influence on the future of the scene. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |