Good Mourning

Chicago€s Alkaline Trio rip off more playful emo punk on Good Mourning, as Matt Skiba€s profane poetry yields another set of sad but very fun songs. The band€s overt pop instincts stayed were muted on past albums, notably their debut, Goddamnit!, but Mourning isn€t nearly so abrasive. Draped in silky production, the band€s painful odes to lost love and bittersweet joy lose some edge (witness the toothless opener, "This Could Be Love"). Still, the band has rarely been tighter, and the likes of "We€ve Had Enough" have enough juice to fuel mosh pits throughout the land. Skiba can make you feel bad about yourself no matter how good your mood, a talent that only true emo masters wield with such authority. --Matthew Cooke