That Time I Fell in Love With The Alkaline Trio In 2003

I remember the first time I saw Sonia (friend from college). I believe it was the first day of college. She was the female version of me. I was intimidated by her immediately. She was hot, I was a bumbling idiot, and I couldn’t get the courage to talk to her. She talked to me though. I think I stuttered. I was wearing a Juliana Theory “headphones” shirt, and she commented on it, said it was cool. I remember the elevator opening and I ran. Eventually I would get to talk to her as we shared some classes, and befriended her. I recall she got me to do things no other girl ever did, mainly ditch class. One day we ditched and ended up at Amoeba Music in Hollywood. I never asked her out. I don’t think she even liked me. I remember one time she got mad that I called what she did and or liked “cheer leading”. It’s not. I want to say she punched me, but I don’t recall to well on that. I recall thinking she was amazing. I should’ve asked her out.

Anyways, that’s all to talk about how The Alkaline Trio put out this collection on Asian Man Records that had a cassette tape on the cover. It was a collection of their tracks, and it came out in 2000, I believe. I picked it up at Amoeba and was immediately in love with the band. Matt Skiba’s voice and poetry came to me at a time when I was definitely low. College wasn’t a high point, but the musical interactions that I was envisioning with the band’s music was stellar. Don’t get me wrong, I heard “Stupid Kid” and “Armageddon” before this record hit my CD player, but still, this was awesome.

From the moment “Goodbye Forever” hit, I knew I had found another amazing band to love. The tracks on this read like a “best of”, and for all intents and purposes it is a “best of” for that time. The tracks include “Bleeder”, “Snake Oil Tanker”, “Cooking Win”, “Sun Dials”, “Nose Over Tail”, “For Your Lungs Only”, and so much more. Twelve of the best tracks from The Alkaline Trio, and some stellar craftsmanship from the band that I had to listen to a lot.

So how do I tie that all into Sonia? Well, she introduced me to Amoeba, cutting class in college, and by proxy, Alkaline Trio’s release. Now, the music video for this track was featured on a late night showing of Punkorama television, but I didn’t catch the name of the band or even hear the song again until 2003.

Suffice to say, you need to pick The Alkaline Trio “ST” from Asian Man Records. I prefer the limited edition “grey” vinyl if you can find that out there in the wild. Regardless of the medium, this is a stellar record that truly made me fall in love with the band, and still holds up today. Matt Skiba is an icon, and don’t argue with me. Sonia, a shout out is in order, I see you on twitter a lot, we chatted a bit. You’re still cooler than I will ever be. Thanks!

Side note, I only ditched class that one time. I’m a weirdo I know.

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