As I was driving in this morning I decided that I needed to blog more. While navigating through the idiots I came to the conclusion that I should do some themed entries as that way I will always have something to write about rather than waiting for inspiration to strike. What you are about to read is that brainstorm come to fruition. I am going to go through my favorite bands in alphabetical order and select my 3 favorite songs by them. Notice I said MY 3 favorite songs. If I were to say “the best” there would be room for debate. By listing MY favorite songs I hope to cut down on needless arguing.
I plan on going through A-Z one letter and one band at a time. Once I get through the first 26 I will start with A again. I figure Q might get harder as time goes on.
Without any further ado let’s get after it!
Did you really expect me to start with any other band? Amazing that it works out that Alkaline Trio starts with the letter A, isn’t it? In case you have missed it I am a nerd for this band. So much so that I have the logo pictured about tattooed on my right calf. It takes a certain level fandom/insanity to ink yourself with a band logo but these is that band for me. There was only one other band that I seriously considered getting tattooed on my person and that was Too Much Joy. More about them once we hit T.
The Trio came into my life in 1999, shortly after the release of Maybe I’ll Catch Fire, the band’s 2nd album. I was a freshman in college at the age of 23 and still “finding myself” (for lack of a better term.) I am pretty sure I found the Trio via liner in some CD I had come across and figured I would check them out. After waiting for hours on Napster to download a few tracks to my Diamond Rio.
For those of you not familiar with the band there are 2 vocalists, Matt and Dan. They each write and sing their own songs. Matt is the angrier of the two while Dan leaned towards the weepy side. These days I am more of a Matt guy but the first Trio songs I heard were Dan songs (“You’ve Got So Far To Go” and “Maybe I’ll Catch Fire”). These were the perfect songs for a goofy kid in over-sized JNCO jeans with floppy long hair to listen to while pretty much blocking out the rest of the world. Songs about girls, booze and loss? What brooding college kid wouldn’t love this?
As I have grown older so has the band and we have both changed together. This is probably why the Trio beat out Too Much Joy for that tattoo, TMJ was just a tad past me whereas the Trio and I have gone through the same stages together.
Here are my 3 favorite songs by Alkaline Trio (In No Particular Order)
She Took Him To The Lake – I am a lyrics guy and in this song Dan paints a picture of a summer romance that seems perfect to both parties until the summer ends. While the Him in our story still pines She has moved on. My absolute favorite part of the song is when Matt comes in at 1:32 with “Gotta be right”. Keep an ear our for it.
Nose Over Tail – As I stated before I am a lyrics guy and for whatever reason Matt’s lyrics strike a chord with me. If you don’t get chills when everyone yells “I’d love to rub your back” at live shows you have no soul.
Old School Reasons – This songs battled it out with “Fine Without You” for the third spot but I just had to go with it. It is an example of everything I love about this band, punk roots, pop sensibilities, dual vocals, dark lyrics and profanity!
