Alkaline Trio - ‘Mr. Chainsaw’

When it comes to my favourite bands, I tend to go through phases. I’ll have a long period of not listening and then, without warning, all I seem to be able to is listen to is a particular band. This week I rekindled my love for Alkaline Trio, and this song in particular took me right back to the beginning.

I was first introduced to Alkaline Trio about five years ago. My exposure to punk music was, at the very best, low. I had only a couple of punk bands in my musical vocabulary (The Ramones and Green Day), and had never been drawn to much else. A year or so before I’d discovered a lot of the ‘Manchester bands’. I was smitten with the work of The Smiths and Joy Division and, me being the way I am, I wanted to know everything I could. 

I was immediately drawn to Ian Curtis, lead singer of Joy Division. Long story short, the guy was messed up. Very messed up (I recommend watching the movie Control). Anyway, during one of my hunts for information I came across a song by Alkaline Trio. ‘Help Me’ - a track from Agony & Irony - was written about the late Joy Division frontman. I’d heard Ian talking about Alkaline Trio in the few times we’d hung out, and he told me they were playing in a few weeks.

I tried beforehand to listen to Trio’s back catalog, but something wasn’t clicking. I couldn’t get into it, and would always fall back into listening to Agony & Irony. The weeks passed and I was excited for the show, but I was convinced that a lot of what was played might not be my kind of thing. After opening with ‘Calling All Skeletons’, they launched into ‘Mr. Chainsaw’ and I was immediately hooked. It was a moment of clarity. The planets aligned and I fell in love with Alkaline Trio.

I spent the rest of the gig mesmerized. I didn’t know most of the songs, but I didn’t care. After that show I got my hands on everything I could and, to this day, From Here To Infirmary remains one of my favourite records. ‘Mr. Chainsaw’ is certainly not the greatest song in Trio’s catalog, but it’s the one that made me a Trio fan. Fuck, without this song I wouldn’t be into punk.

Barlow x