Album Review: Alkaline Trio - 'Damnesia'

Pretty much everybody holds a special place in their heart for Alkaline Trio. The group has been around now for fifteen years and to celebrate this, they have released ‘Damnesia,’ a collection of some of their finest works, stripped back to acoustic versions along with a few brand new full band songs as well.

The group have done well to select a quality range of songs from their catalogue that should keep fans pretty happy. Kicking off with one of their finest, Calling All Skeletons, the band let us know early that although the songs are in an acoustic format, they will by no means lack energy or a range of percussion and instruments besides the usual core.

Matt Skiba's voice which is normally quite impressive, has even more space to shine and is one of the main drivers of all of the songs. Another stand out element is the guitar work, the band have taken this opportunity to make the guitar lines more intricate, an exciting change from the usual power chord driven riffs of their heavier material.

There are plenty of great tracks that get the acoustic treatment including Mercy Me, We've Had Enough and Clavicle. The piano is used heavily in a beautiful rendition of The American Scream, which turns the song into a melody heavy ballad. The stripped back version of Private Eye is a highlight as it captures a eerie sentiment and uses synthesizers as an effective backdrop to the acoustic instruments.

The new tracks include a Violent Femmes cover, I Held Her In My Arms, which is possibly better than the original version, Olde English 800, a short folk sing-a-long and I Remember A Rooftop, another solo acoustic strummer sung by bass player Dan Andriano.

The record ends with a Dashboard Confessional style version of Radio, one of the fullest sounding tracks and least “acoustic.”

Whilst this is a great little collection of alternate, stripped down versions of Alkaline Trio favourites, which translate very well into a softer format, it will probably be more enjoyed by existing fans of the band who are familiar with the original versions of the songs.

1. Calling All Skeletons

2. Nose Over Tail  

3. This Could Be Love

4. Every Thug Needs a Lady  

5. Clavicle  

6. Mercy Me  

7. The American Scream

8. We've Had Enough  

9. Olde English 800  

10. I Held Her in My Arms

11. Blue in the Face

12. I Remember a Rooftop  

13. Private Eye  

14. You've Got So Far to Go

15. Radio