For nearly his entire adult life, Matt Skiba has sung and played guitar in Alkaline Trio, a pop-punk outfit that is splendidly competent but reasonably polarizing — and not just in its native Chicago. Along the way, he also filled in for Tom DeLonge of Blink-182, those mall rock he-devils so mistrusted by punk purists.
Alkaline’s style — heavily EQ’ed vocals, chugga-chugga power chords — isn’t for everyone, not even close. But Skiba, who grew up in a north suburban household, is thick-skinned; he has a why, therefore he can endure any how. He believed enough in Alkaline’s mission to drop out of Columbia College, where he studied graphic design at the height of the dot-com bubble. He still believes, as does longtime bassist and co-vocalist Dan Andriano. In fact, Skiba says he and Andriano are growing as musicians and songwriters.
Alkaline launched its current tour on Feb. 22, playing to a rapt crowd in Anaheim, California. The setlist varies from night to night, so each show presents fresh challenges: “We went back and picked out a bunch of songs that we either haven’t played live before or haven’t played in recent years,” Skiba says. “We’re also playing new stuff and the fans really seem to respond positively to it, which is awesome, seeing as the record is so new.” Some of the oldies include “Trouble Breathing,” a song beautiful enough to stir covetous longing in any guitarist’s soul.
About that new record. “Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs,” the band’s 10th album, is horrorlit set to a pop punk beat. The themes — madness, helplessness, schadenfreude — are pure apocalyptica. Skiba’s suffering isn’t his alone; it’s a comment on an unmoored world, a confused and logic-less world. But the songs themselves are bound by a clocklike sense of order. This is handsomely made, melodically sensible pop punk.
“It’s a departure in how we created the record,” Skiba says. “And that was kind of the point. We wanted to approach the record differently so that it was a — not necessarily a departure, but a progression.” The retention of producer-mixer Cameron Webb, who helmed “Is This Thing Cursed?” in 2018, was critical to building on that album’s creative breakthroughs. Webb is, you could say, a benevolent enforcer, the line between sublimity and abject chaos.
Most producers would happily work with Danzig or Pennywise or Jack Johnson, but not all three. Webb is not most producers. Few spaces in the rock world are more democratic than his wood-paneled crash pad in Orange County, which is permanently aglow with LED lights. Webb is an equanimous figure, slow to anger and rich in patience, and his dealings with Alkaline have always copacetic.
“We’ve known Cameron for a long time,” Skiba says. “He’s recorded a bunch of stuff for us, including two studio albums and an acoustic covers thing.” Skiba can’t recall how they met — he thinks it was through Bob Hurley, the Orange County surf wear mogul — but either way, “Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs” sparkles with that scintillating Webbian sheen.
Skiba, of course, has a rich interior life, and a macroscopic imagination. “Break,” the fourth and most recent single from “Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs,” describes a rhythmically charged nervous breakdown, sort of like the stereotypic behavior observed in unhappy zoo animals. Skiba hasn’t experienced this firsthand, so “Break” is purely conjecture, but it was inspired by real-world events. Skiba was cruising in Los Angeles when a roadside calamity harshed his mellow. He witnessed the exact sort of panic attack recounted on “Break.” Then there’s Skiba’s whooping, tremulous falsetto; it makes human turmoil sound beautiful, bewitching.
Speaking of majesty and spectral beauty, Alkaline is playing the Aragon Ballroom on Saturday. The Aragon is a singular venue, with its lovingly refurbished, castle-like interior and gaze-worthy ceiling, which resembles an acrylic night sky painting. More than any other such facility in Chicago, it retains a special place in Skiba’s heart; this is where he saw the Ramones years ago, as well as the Beastie Boys and the delightfully fictitious Spinal Tap. Those are big shoes to fill, but Alkaline will manage.
“Our friend Eric is the production designer,” Skiba says. “The stage looks amazing. It’s a great-looking, great-sounding show, and we look forward to hopefully tightening it up even more for the hometown crowd.”
M.T. Richards is a freelance writer.
Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs the Tour is 8 p.m. March 16 at Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom, 1106 W. Lawrence Ave.; general admission tickets (17+) from $72 at livenation.com
