I think I like it because it sounds so much like Alkaline Trio. Alkaline Trio, fronted by the breathtakingly handsome Matt Skiba, is pretty dark.
I got into Alkaline Trio during the aftermath of my separation and subsequent divorce from my first husband. My world was turned upside down but the benefit was that I went through a sort of second adolescence, which awakened my desire to find music that described what I was going through. It didn't hurt that I was working at a community college at the time with journalism students in their late teens and 20s, who freely shared their musical tastes.
I fell in love with a number of bands and artists at that time, including Imogene Heap, Alkaline Trio, Interpol, The Killers and, looking back a few years, Kate Bush, specifically her "Hounds of Love" album.
My first new boyfriend also introduced me to some bands I still really like, especially Ash and the Sheila Divine. If you like good alternative music, their song "Hum" will change your life.
I was clearly a woman in search of a new soundtrack. I'll admit it, I even bought a "Fall Out Boy" CD. I would try to apologize for that, pretending I'm too cool for early 2000s emo music, but I do know all of the words to "Sugar, We're Going Down." I've also lately been influenced by a profanity-laced but profound quote by Nirvana alum and Foo Fighters frontman David Grohl: "I don't believe in guilty pleasures. If you f-ing like something, like it." Alright, Dave, I will take ownership of my eclectic taste.
My goth side has faded a touch with age and parenthood. Oh, it's still in there, but I've got too much on my plate to go to "that place" very often. Besides, watching dozens of episodes of Nick Jr. shows like "Max and Ruby" kind of brightens your soul by a few shades. (Although if you've seen the cartoon or read the books, parents, there is a darker subtext to the show. Where are the parents? Why is Ruby the only one around to take care of her toddler brother? It's really a story of neglect.) Still, it's too cute for its own good.
Despite the cutification of my innards, I still find Alkaline Trio irresistible.
Some of the music by Skiba's side project Heavens is arguably even darker. But I love the song "Dead End Girl." First I like it because of the words, including a metaphor I dig: "Dead end girl made a promise to herself. That this dead end world will be forced to eat itself at gun point." It's a colorful way of describing someone who is fed up with just about everything. What I really love, though, is the guitar, particularly at the end of the song.
Speaking of the guitar, it has been months since I've played guitar or bass and I need to remedy that. Because I keep having a recurring nightmare that I'm on stage with a band trying to play a guitar whose strings are broken. They are literally stretched until you can't make any notes or chords. Say what you will about my angsty ways, my subconscious is rarely subtle. Rather than giving me gentle hints, it prefers to hit me over the head with a frozen halibut.
And speaking of guitar, I think one of the best lines about the instrument and what inspires someone to play it hails from Interpol's "Slow Hands." Allow me to share a number of lines from this confection of perfection. Again, look for the metaphors, of which I am a connoisseur:
I submit my incentive is romance. I watch the pole dance of the stars.
We rejoice 'cause the hurting is so painless, from the distance of passing cars.And I am married to your charms and grace. I just go crazy like the good old days.
You make me want to pick up a guitar, and celebrate the myriad ways that I love you.
I've got a little tip for you, ladies. If a man ever says anything that uniquely complimentary about you, let alone sings it to you, marry him. I guess this longtime divorcee, currently engaged to her two-time baby daddy, isn't so jaded after all!
*Note: I don't claim ownership of any of these songs. I just like them. If you like them and have the money, I encourage you to buy them.
—Sarah Torribio
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