They say you can't go home again, that time and choices have a way of changing your perspective to a point that renders the safety and familiarity of past comforts unrecognizable.
But they also say that the last couple of Alkaline Trio albums weren't exactly up there with the Chicago-bred trio's best work, and if any revered cult act desperately needed to revisit its bruise-colored goth-punk roots, it was this one. Fortunately for longtime fans, the band felt the same way, and its seventh full-length is both a sharp and speedy return to form, and a continued refinement of its principals' already well-honed songwriting skills.
This article appears in Feb 17-23, 2010.