Alkaline Trio serves up another helping of Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs in the form of Bad Time, the darkly melodic second track to be released in advance of its 10th album, due out January 26, 2024 on Rise Records.
Bad Time follows last month’s unveiling of the album’s frenetic title track — hailed by Consequence for its “fresh approach” and by Brooklyn Vegan as “classic Alkaline Trio… their grim yet catchy punk sounds as unmistakable as ever” — with a more subdued yet no less intense vibe. This makes perfect sense, as the lyrics find Trio guitarist/vocalist Matt Skiba finding the eyes of multiple storms in the form of the same friend’s voice:
“‘Bad Time’ was initially inspired by a friend and crush who happened to call me while I was on tour in El Paso TX as an active shooter situation was happening just across from where we were staying. We could hear gunshots and sirens as the situation escalated. My friend asked if it was a bad time to talk, and I said no — I really wanted to speak with her. It was actually a terrible and terrifying time, but it was never a bad time to hear her voice. The second verse goes back to a time in Chicago when my roommate Bobby and I were almost killed in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting — high as kites on mushrooms. We lived in a neighborhood run by Latin Kings at the time of the shooting, so I reference those facts as well as how nice it would have been to hear from the same girl back then.”
