Alkaline Trio / One Man Army – BYO Spilt Series Volume Five

We’ve waited two years since the last BYO Records Split Series came out, but we finally have the fifth edition featuring Alkaline Trio and One Man Army. Of course, following The Bouncing Souls andAnti-Flag in the series is a hard task to do, but these twelve tracks show that Alk3 and OMA are up to the test.

Of course, the first band of the two is none other then Alkaline Trio, your favorite dark, pop-punk trio. They supply the album with five new songs and a cover song of The Damned‘s Wait For The Blackout. Not one of their songs let you down in anyway. Listening to them, you get exactly what you’d expect from the band and then some. Fluent, three-chord pop-punk that captivates you instantly, topped off with disturbingly dark lyrics courtesy of Matt Skiba‘s triumphant rasp and Dan Andiano‘s smoother, but still harsh, voice. The band even surprises you with an acoustic, ballard-like song, If You Had A Bad Time…; astonishing you even more then have lyrics like “Just some words of advice, maybe you’ve heard them before but here goes: Just be true to yourself. If it lands you in Hell, well at least then you know.” These five songs will make any Alk3 fan go crazy; unfortunately, the cover song isn’t quite as good as it could have been. They should stick to originals rather then cover songs.

The next half of the split belongs to BYO Records‘ artist, One Man Army. This has a very vast and evident contrast to the Alkaline Trio songs. Instead of smooth, catchy pop-punk songs, OMA plays fast paced, toe-tapping, oi songs. The lyrics are simple, and you find yourself singing along with Jack Dalrymple the first time you hear the songs, especially The T.V. Song. With all three of the trio adding vocals to the mix, you are able to get a dual, and sometimes triple layered sound. The songs are like any good oi band, fans of U.S. Bombs will instantly fall in love with OMA; especially with a former Bombs’ member in the group now too. OMA’s half isn’t quite as good as Alk3’s section, but that’s coming from a big Alk3 fan.

This split CD is a good one. It provides you with a good thirty minutes of punk rock music to rock out to; and will not get boring for quite some time. And plus, as an added bonus, there is a small one page essay for both the bands. Noah Levine, the author of Dharma Punx, provides the Alkaline Trio essay while Mel Gragirna does the One Man Army one. Both are fun to read and well written. I leave you with the ending quote from Noah, “God has abandoned you. Fear does not serve you. Your heart has betrayed you. Only the music can guide you.“