Underground rock outfit Alkaline Trio will release its next studio album, "Good Mourning," May 13 via Vagrant Records. The follow up to 2001's "From Here to Infirmary" was tracked at Cello Studios in Los Angeles with producer Joe McGrath (Blink 182, R.L. Burnside) and co-producer/mixer Jerry Finn (Blink 182, Green Day).
"We're still not quite done," Chicago-bred, Oakland-based frontman Matt Skiba tells Billboard.com. "We have an acoustic song called 'Blue in the Face' for the finale of the record that happened last minute. When I got home I realized how terrible it sounded, so I'm heading back down to the studio to fix it. We went for this sort of 'charming, end of the night, my voice is thrashed' kind of vibe and it just came out wrong. It's a cool song, but it needs to sound right. Obviously at this point it might sound like nitpicking, but we have to make the best record we know how."
In fact, "Good Mourning" marks the most dedicated and perhaps challenging studio turn for Alkaline Trio yet. "It took a lot longer than expected to get the record done," Skiba confides. "The album was made over a three-month period, although we weren't in the studio the entire time. I ran into some problems with my voice at the start of recording. First, I got strep throat, which got better, but when it finally came time for me to do my vocal parts, I hadn't sung in so long that I blew my voice out really badly. And it took a while to repair it, with the help of doctors and a voice coach."
As one of Vagrant's bigger-selling artists, the group felt pressure to follow up the success of "Infirmary," which bowed at No. 14 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart and has sold 89,000 units in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan. "This is the first time we've had all the time in world to make an album and we've got money that we hadn't had before," Skiba says. "More money means more time to get things right. We knew that this record would be much better and now that we're done with it, I think that it's far better than our last record."
The new set sports such romance-inspired punk songs as "This Could Be Love," "Every Thug Needs a Lady," and "Fatally Yours," but, as Skiba explains, "the majority of the songs are on the dark side." Things turn more upbeat on the anthem "We've Had Enough," featuring vocals by the Circle Jerks' Keith Morris. "He's such a huge inspiration to me, and he created a lot of what still exists today in punk rock -- especially vocally," Skiba says. "To have him on the record, on my favorite song on the album, is a big thrill."
While the group has yet to settle on plans for a single or video, Skiba promises there will be both. "We're gonna wait until we have the completed record in our hands before we make a decision. It'll be easier to pick out." He also guarantees a U.S. tour throughout May and June, which will launch the day the album is released at the Riviera in the group's native Chicago.
"We're still not quite done," Chicago-bred, Oakland-based frontman Matt Skiba tells Billboard.com. "We have an acoustic song called 'Blue in the Face' for the finale of the record that happened last minute. When I got home I realized how terrible it sounded, so I'm heading back down to the studio to fix it. We went for this sort of 'charming, end of the night, my voice is thrashed' kind of vibe and it just came out wrong. It's a cool song, but it needs to sound right. Obviously at this point it might sound like nitpicking, but we have to make the best record we know how."
In fact, "Good Mourning" marks the most dedicated and perhaps challenging studio turn for Alkaline Trio yet. "It took a lot longer than expected to get the record done," Skiba confides. "The album was made over a three-month period, although we weren't in the studio the entire time. I ran into some problems with my voice at the start of recording. First, I got strep throat, which got better, but when it finally came time for me to do my vocal parts, I hadn't sung in so long that I blew my voice out really badly. And it took a while to repair it, with the help of doctors and a voice coach."
As one of Vagrant's bigger-selling artists, the group felt pressure to follow up the success of "Infirmary," which bowed at No. 14 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart and has sold 89,000 units in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan. "This is the first time we've had all the time in world to make an album and we've got money that we hadn't had before," Skiba says. "More money means more time to get things right. We knew that this record would be much better and now that we're done with it, I think that it's far better than our last record."
The new set sports such romance-inspired punk songs as "This Could Be Love," "Every Thug Needs a Lady," and "Fatally Yours," but, as Skiba explains, "the majority of the songs are on the dark side." Things turn more upbeat on the anthem "We've Had Enough," featuring vocals by the Circle Jerks' Keith Morris. "He's such a huge inspiration to me, and he created a lot of what still exists today in punk rock -- especially vocally," Skiba says. "To have him on the record, on my favorite song on the album, is a big thrill."
While the group has yet to settle on plans for a single or video, Skiba promises there will be both. "We're gonna wait until we have the completed record in our hands before we make a decision. It'll be easier to pick out." He also guarantees a U.S. tour throughout May and June, which will launch the day the album is released at the Riviera in the group's native Chicago.
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