Alkaline Trio - Agony & Irony (2008)

Tracklist
1. Calling All Skeletons 3:18
2. Help Me 3:44
3. In Vein 3:56
4. Over And Out 3:13
5. I Found Away 4:00
6. Do You Wanna Know? 3:36
7. Live Young, Die Fast 4:13
8. Love Love, Kiss Kiss 3:25
9. Lost And Rendered 3:22
10. Ruin It 3:36
11. Into The Night 3:22

Issued three years after Alkaline Trio's well-received CRIMSON, 2008's AGONY & IRONY finds the Chicago-based ensemble continuing to work in its signature brooding punk-pop vein. Despite the skull on AGONY's cover, however, the album isn't as blatantly goth-oriented as CRIMSON, leaving room for vocalist/guitarist Matt Skiba to display a wider range of emotions, as heard on the sensitive-yet-punchy single "Help Me" and the cheeky "Love Love, Kiss Kiss." Other highlights of the record include the catchy opener, "Calling All Skeletons," and the dynamic break-up tune, "Over and Out," songs that reinforce Alkaline Trio's status as one of the most respected acts in the overcrowded punk-pop field.