With a title as evocative as “Blood, Hair and Eyeballs,” Alkaline Trio beckons us into their labyrinthine world once again. This freshly unveiled track heralds the imminent arrival of their tenth studio album, also titled “Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs.” For those immersed in the pop-punk soundscape, this release is more than just a musical note—it’s a statement.
With Dan Andriano, Derek Grant, and Matt Skiba helming the composition, the album promises to be an authentic Alkaline Trio experience. Check it out below.
Recorded with GRAMMY-winning producer Cameron Webb at Studio 606 in Northridge CA, “Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs” finds Alkaline Trio stripping its sound down to the skin and bones of its unmistakable sonic spirit, while taking that dark essence to parts previously unknown.
Accompanied by the premiere of a fittingly kinetic video directed by Ravi Dhar and featuring pro skaters including Steve Caballero, Chris Cole and more, the album’s first single and title track exemplifies its balance of the eerily familiar and the shock of the new. Oh, and there’s that song/album title…
“My mom worked for years as an emergency room nurse”, says vocalist/guitarist/founder Matt Skiba. “She and her co-workers referred to exceptionally busy nights as ‘blood, hair, and eyeballs’. Well, we’ve been busy making an exceptional record we refer to as Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs, too. We approached this new record in completely new ways. We built the songs together, from the ground up, in the same room which hasn’t happened since the band started. Usually we start with an idea somebody’s already written. This time, we had the unique opportunity to build the songs onto drums recorded at Studio 606 on to two-inch tape using one of the most beautiful-sounding and legendary consoles in rock. It has almost everything to do with how our new record sounds”.
Of the “Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs” video, bassist/vocalist Dan Andriano adds, “Sometimes the full circle nature of life is enough to just completely blow my mind… this is one of those times. Skateboarding was my first love, is my favorite sport, and a community through which I was first introduced to punk rock. So when Matt and I read Ravi’s idea to combine our music with an homage to the Bones Brigade’s ‘The Search For Animal Chin’ and throw some spooky zombies in there… we both dug it right away. The work Ravi and the entire production crew put in was insane and it shows… So to kick off the release of our 10th album with this super fun video featuring Steve Caballero, Chris Cole, Ace, Corey and Shea is so much more than a dream come true, it’s true love. This is not a phase”.
Dropping on February 23, 2024, via Rise Records, the album showcases the unmistakable cadence the band is revered for: those catchy hooks and melodic strands that have become almost synonymous with their name. The track feels like a reverberating callback to their roots, yet effortlessly modern—serving both nostalgia and the novel in equal measure.
In addition to being a darkly shining exemplar of the Trio’s signature blend of wry lyrical wit and bittersweet melodic sensibility, “Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs” arrives in a confluence of endings and beginnings—specifically, it’s both the first album to be released via the band’s new label home, Rise Records, and the last to feature longtime member Derek Grant, drummer on every Alkaline Trio record since 2003’s classic “Good Mourning”.
The lineup is as illustrious as one might expect. Behind the scenes, the production team comprises of Cameron Webb as the producer and mixer, and Andrew Alekel taking the helm as the sound engineer. Jamie Blake lends her voice to the background vocals.
“Blood, Hair, And Eyeballs” lyrics:
You showed up and I shut down
We lost touch and you left town
You said “I never ever wanna see your motherfucking face again”
I went out and I got high
I blacked out and lost my mind
I said “I never ever wanna feel that motherfucking way again”
(No, no)
I got nightmares up and down my walls
I got some things that I should say
Walk like a zombie up and down these halls
Live like the undead, like the undead
At the end of the day
I’m getting back to living life
Cut me some slack, I almost died and I
Never ever wanna see that motherfucking place again
I found your love and lost my way
I won’t lose hope patiently waiting out
Hope and pray I get to see your motherfucking face again
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
I got nightmares up and down my walls
I got some things that I should say
Walk like a zombie up and down these halls
Live like the undead, like the undead
At the end of the day
Live in my blood
Die in my dreams
Dig for the cover
Killing machines
That’s like the devil
Flowers on the grave
[?]
I went insane
I got nightmares up and down my walls
I got some things that I should say
Walk like a zombie up and down these halls
Live like the undead, like the undead
At the end of the day
The track listing for the new album goes as follows:
1. Hot For Preacher
2. Meet Me
3. Versions of You
4. Bad Time
5. Scars
6. Break
7. Shake with Me
8. Blood, Hair and Eyeballs
9. Hinterlude
10. Broken Down In A Time Machine
11. Teenage Heart
