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.
Vagrant Records – 3 April 2001
Every listen is a good time, Its the best time
Despite my taste for whiskey and rum over stouts and lagers, I’ve always had a special place in my heart for songs of love turned cold and beer gone warm. Alkaline Trio are largely responsible for that.
While Godammit may be the fan favorite album, and Good Mourning had the best billboard sales position, it is From Here to Infirmary that took everything great about the alcopop-punk sound and cleaned it up without watering it down. As a self-accredited expert and gatekeeper, I was too stubborn and punker-than-thou to admit it at the time but, I’d say by the end of 2001 though I had realized that the album is damn-near flawless and every track goes down smoothly every time you decide to knock it back.
This 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.
The rawness of Maybe I’ll Catch Fire remained, but the Vagrant Records budget and musical maturation of both the band and long-time producer Matt Alison provided Infirmary with a sheen not available on the previous releases. While the band’s catchiness and dark lyrical content didn’t begin in 2001, they were certainly perfected and it showed as the band leapfrogged from indie darlings touring with Hot Water Music to Warped Tour main-stagers. The two previous records 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 two decades 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 Mike Felumlee (in his only LP appearance with the band, bridging the gap from founding member Glenn Porter to current drummer Derek Grant) 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.
Skiba and Felumlee may not have gotten along during recording, they may still have their differences, but the chemistry (or lack thereof) between the three seems to have created an accessible opening for new fans to walk in without shutting out the fans that helped 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 “I wrote the words to this song on the back of a photograph/Behind your back it goes” show off the cunning linguistics the band is known for. The growing pains are still evident though with lyrics that spell out the meaning far too clearly as seen with “In case you’re wondering/I’m singing about growing up/about giving in” from “Mr Chainsaw.”
Outside of the occasional misstep out of caution of being too obtuse, the Trio use Infirmary as the template of everything to come next in their careers. Infirmary is the last record where Skiba’s songwriting outshines Andriano’s thanks to the paranoid anthems to self sabotage “Private Eye” and “Bloodied Up.” Despite the inebriating strength of Skiba’s tracks, “Take Lots With Alcohol” and “Crawl” 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.
My first listen to this record I felt pangs of disappointment and anxiety as the band pickled their sound in pop sensibilities. 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.
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/
