Alkaline Trio show preview (Orlando Weekly)

As Alkaline Trio has moved further and further away from their early days as the leaders of the drunk-and-loud flank of the eyeliner-emo brigade, they’ve turned off both their disaffected teenage fan base and the permanently adolescent grown-ups who dug their highly melodic spin. Alkaline’s 2005 album, Crimson, contained gasping greatness; enough of their early snarl was intact, making it harder to notice that the soaring, arena-ready melodies that long ago were but an ironic hint have become the band’s stylistic centerpiece. Crimson was a fork in the road, after which the band could have continued on a path of well-crafted, melodic punk dripping with sarcasm and dark rage, or embarked upon My Chemical Romance–style punk-rock pantomime. With this month’s Agony & Irony – produced by Josh Abraham (Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park) and released on Epic Records – they’ve obviously chosen the latter. But to what end? They may have sold out, but they’re gonna have trouble cashing the check.

First appeared July 17, 2008 in Orlando Weekly.