Angst, hurt and heartbreak are all very common themes in rock and punk music, and it's not rare for acts to focus solely on those topics. Alkaline Trio is something of a rarity in that their music has continuously evolved throughout a career that has spanned over a decade and several lineup changes.

Alkaline Trio: Artists Through And Through

"You always have an idea of what you want the record to sound like and it always comes out a little bit differently."

Angst, hurt and heartbreak are all very common themes in rock and punk music, and it's not rare for acts to focus solely on those topics. Alkaline Trio is something of a rarity in that their music has continuously evolved throughout a career that has spanned over a decade and several lineup changes.

Alkaline Trio: All Coming Together

The original lineup came together in late 1996 when guitarist Matt Skiba, bassist Rob Doran and drummer Glenn Porter - all of them natives of McHenry, Illinois - formed the band's very first incarnation. Sundials, the new band's first EP, came out the next year.

Doran, however, didn't stick around for very long, and was replaced by Slapstick alum Dan Andriano for their second EP, 1998's For Your Lungs Only. Their sophomore EP did much to build their initial fan base in the Midwest, which fueled the success of full-length debut that same year, Goddamnit. Two more releases followed in 2000: their second full-length, Maybe I'll Catch Fire, and a release of their previous EP's in a self-titled release.

2001 saw Alkaline Trio make a significant move toward more mainstream music with From Here to Infirmary, which was released under Vagrant Records. The album also gave them their first two music videos. This was followed in 2003 with Good Mourning, which featured an even more mainstream sound and higher production values.

A fifth album from Vagrant Records, Crimson, was released in 2005, and subsequently reissued later that year as a two-disc special edition. Their final release with Vagrant was Remains in 2007, which featured B-sides and rare recordings from the Occult Roots tour.

Alkaline Trio: Ten Years Later

In 2006, the band announced that it had signed on with V2 Records. By January the next year, however, the label underwent restructuring and let go of all its new artists. The band announced its partnership with Epic Records a few months later.

To commemorate the tenth anniversary of the band's debut, Asian Man Records reissued Goddamnit in 2008, significantly remastered and with several extra tracks. A completely new album, Agony & Irony, was released in 2008 to much fanfare. The release debuted at #13 on the Billboard charts, the highest ever ranking for the group.

After entering the studio to record a new album in August 2009, the band announced in October of that year that a whole new album was complete. Heart & Skull, the band's own label and a project with Epitaph Records, is set to release This Addiction on February 23, 2010.

Did You Know That...

• ...all three of the band's current members have side projects? Fans can also check out Heavens (featuring Skiba), The Falcon or The Emergency Room (featuring Andriano) or any of Grant's solo releases.
• ...a girl was supposedly behind the firing of Glenn Porter? In 2000, Porter had allegedly sent a box of feces to a member of another band - which was also on their label - for taking his girl.

• Unlimited Music Access
• Music File Sharing
• Country Based Radio Channels
• Easy, Fast and Safe!
• 100% Free!