A time when bands releasing acoustic EPs is becoming increasing popular, Alkaline Trio trumps all others with a 15-track acoustic LP. Featuring songs spanning the legacy of their punk rock career, Damnesia is a good blend of new and old songs. Alkaline Trio’s slowly fallen off the radar since their album Good Mourning broke them into the mainstream in 2003, but they’ve managed to keep fans happy with a string of successful singles since then. While taking a break from releasing a full-length of new material, Alkaline Trio have recorded an acoustic album that can satisfy fans of all generations.

Celebrating the band’s 15 years of powerful melodies and passionate lyrics, Damnesia comes with two new tunes and a cover of the The Violent Femmes’s “I Held Her In My Arms.” Alkaline Trio puts a little country-western spin on the cover song in a solid attempt to mimic the bluesy horns found on the original track. The two new songs, “Olde English 800” and “I Remember A Rooftop,” fit well with the other tracks, but don’t compare to the older tracks like “Radio” and “Private Eye,” or even the newer-older tracks like “Mercy Me” and “We’ve Had Enough.” Lyrically, “Olde English 800” does have that I-don’t-give-a-fuck attitude that fits well with the older audience, but “I Remember A Rooftop” defeats “Olde English 800” with better melody, wonderful lyrical imagery, and better musical creativity.

With perfect production quality and a well-chosen list of songs, Damnesia is sure to make Alkaline Trio fans giddy with excitement. Their songs of love, loss, death, and disappointment will cure the most battered of broken hearts and please the most cynical mind. We can only hope that re-recording some of these older songs will trigger something in the band that’ll be reflected on their next album.

★★★★✩

*This review was composed by Jose Terrero