When I was in High School in California (which wasn't too long ago), the Chicago-based Alkaline Trio was one of those bands that all the cool kids (and the wannabe that I was) liked because no one else really knew about them. After all, they weren't on the radio or MTV at the time. I remember thinking they were so "underground", and I went and saw them in Berkeley (where they live now) with my skateboarder "friends" whom I played drums in a band with. In 2001, they released the poppier "From Here to Infirmary," and all of the sudden they were on the radio and everyone knew about them. They even lost some of their fans just because they became popular and their sound changed a bit. On Good Mourning they're still kinda poppy, but I always go off my own opinion and I think the album is pretty good. The first song "This Could Be Love" is a typical catchy pop-punk song.

The fun starts when the next track (which is also their big-hit radio single), "We've Had Enough" kicks in and becomes a great, rocking song with singer-bassist Daniel Andriano's talented, one-of-a-kind voice really shining through. "100 Stories" shows their range with the use of some tasty Hammond at the beginning, and tracks like "Emma" and "Fatally Yours" are standard punk cuts that show they can still write a fun, listenable punk song. On strangely-titled "Every Thug Needs a Lady," they crank out a song that sounds like a standard alternative rock song, but at the same time it's still catchy and fun. I was impressed by the last track, the acoustic "Blue in the Face" which almost sounds like a good Dashboard Confessional song. And who doesn't enjoy a good, heartfelt acoustic ballad once in a while? All in all, this album should satisfy many of the Trio's fans as well as anyone who enjoys good, fun, coherent punk rock.