Here's a party game for you: Put on Babylon and take a shot of a distilled drink of your choosing every time Matt Skiba uses a cliche. By the end of song one, you'll be drunker and scrappier than Alkaline Trio were on their first two albums. A couple of songs afterwards, the other party-goers will be forcing a glass of water on you and telling the ambos to hurry up with that stomach pump.
Babylon, the second solo project from the Alkaline frontman, is very much like what he creates at his day job, just with more synths. His love for teen goth morbidity and pre-fabricated phrases (besides Mike Ness, there might not be a frontman so dependent on them for lyrical content) is undiminished, and his way with big choruses and his blending of pop-punk with The Cure is as savvy and enjoyable as it's ever been. Keen fans will hear Falling Like Rain, think, “Well I'll be! He's recycled Eating Me Alive”, and not care. And they will forgive lyrics as execrable as, “There's a stranger inside of me named anger/He worked for me but danger was your middle name.”
Guests Jarrod Alexander (My Chemical Romance, on drums) and Hunter Burgan (AFI, bass) aren't given much of a chance to show their talents, which makes you wonder why Skiba bothered to recruit such heavy hitters.
Despite the lyrical weaknesses and lack of surprises, this isn't a terrible record. The stadium rock hooks are there, the songs are mostly uptempo and fun, and the backing vocal contributions by Rob Ramos (Strung Out) are excellent. This should do nicely for A3 fans who habitually hit fast forward when Dan Andriano's songs come up.
