25th anniversary review: Alkaline Trio – “Maybe I’ll Catch Fire”

This review is part of a series looking back at significant albums on their anniversaries. Through the benefit of hindsight we will be viewing the album not just as it was released, but how it stands the test of time, as well as its place in the band’s discography and the genre in general.

Asian Man Records – 14 March, 2000

Way To Go, Way To Go, They’ve Come So Far and Have So Far To Go

Despite my taste for whiskey over stouts and lagers, I’ve always had a special place in my heart for songs of love turned cold and beer gone down the hatch. Alkaline Trio are largely responsible for that. 

While Godammit may be the fan favorite album, and Good Mourning had the best billboard sales position, Maybe I’ll Catch Fire is the album where the trio found and began to master what would become their signature sound, a loaded cocktail that’s two parts punk, one part pop with a garnish of sinister thoughts and dark imagery.

The rawness remained, but the musical maturation of the band provided Maybe with a sheen not available on the previous releases.   The previous record showed that the Trio were good song writers, but this album shows us a glimpse of just how great they could and would be.

Ever since this release 25 years ago, they have remained at the forefront of the 21st century punk canon thanks to their musicianship, songwriting and beer taste on a champagne budget.  

The morbidly melodic three-piece tackled the morose with cynicism and self-deprecation. Drummer Glenn Porter subtly drives the rhythm while Matt Skiba’s crisp and clean riffs mesh perfectly with Dan Andriano’s pulsing basslines. For a three-piece the record is teeming with a sound much larger than the sum of its parts. 

The chemistry between the three seems to have created an accessible opening for new fans to walk in without shutting out the fans that would help them grow beyond Asian Man Records. 

Thematically, the band grew darker in later releases, but on this album Skiba and Andriano moved beyond dipping their toes into the abyss and started not so slowly wading into the shadowy waters they would later find themselves diving headlong into.  

Alkaline has become known for their clever turns of phrase, but that wordplay began to really stand out with this record. Lines like “You have to be the cutest gravedigger I’ve ever seen” show off the cunning linguistics the band became known for. The growing pains are still evident though with lyrics that spell out the meaning far too clearly as seen with “And then she went away, his calls were not returned/He went to see her but her eyes were burning a different stare” from “She Took Him To The Lake”

Outside of the occasional misstep out of caution of being too obtuse, the Trio use Maybe as the template of everything to come next in their careers. Maybe I’ll Catch Fire is the first glimpse to Andriano’s songwriting outshining Skiba’s thanks to the paranoid anthems of self sabotage 

Despite the inebriating strength of Skiba’s tracks,  “Maybe I’ll Catch Fire,” “She Took Him To The Lake” and “You’ve Got So Far To Go” proved Andriano was no lightweight in the songwriting department, and it wasn’t long before he would be going shot for shot with Skiba on future releases.

Maybe Maybe isnt the best of ALK3’s ouevre. The record inarguably is a deep hammock hanging between the high offerings of Goddammit and From Here To Infirmary. It’s easy to overlook the album due to the strength of its predecessor and successor. Luckily, the record isn’t part of a trilogy and can be enjoyed, heartily on its own.

My first listen to this record I felt pangs of disappointment.  As time went by I began to realize and embrace the musical growth of the Chicago trio, and enjoyed the ascent as the band pub-crawled its way to the top of their genre.  In the well stocked bar that is the Alkaline discography, this record belongs on the top shelf.