Alkaline Trio have released ‘Bad Time’, the second single from their upcoming tenth full-length album ‘Blood, Hair and Eyeballs’.
Released last week (November 30), the spirited track finds frontman Matt Skiba earnestly professing his affection for an old flame under life-threatening circumstances: “Left a message saying “hi” / I answered from a firefight / Told you it’s a bad time / But I can talk”
According to a press release, the events described in the song were based on Skiba’s real life experiences. “‘Bad Time’ was initially inspired by a friend and crush who happened to call me while I was on tour in El Paso, Texas as an active shooter situation was happening just across from where we were staying,” he wrote.
“We could hear gunshots and sirens as the situation escalated. My friend asked if it was a bad time to talk, and I said no — I really wanted to speak with her. It was actually a terrible and terrifying time, but it was never a bad time to hear her voice.”
Supporting the single’s release is a dreamy video directed by Ravi Dahr, who also directed the zombie-themed visual for the title track of ‘Blood, Hair and Eyeballs’. Skiba spoke positively of the band’s collaboration with the director on ‘Bad Time’, stating: “We spent the short time we had to put this together, brainstorming and sending links, photos, and film references. It’s not every day I meet someone who loves Dario Argento or Stanley Kubrick or Kenneth Anger and so on as much as I do.”
Watch the clip below:
‘Blood, Hair and Eyeballs’ is Alkaline Trio’s first full-length album in six years, following their 2018 release ‘Is This Thing Cursed?’. The album will be their first to be released through Rise Records, and the last to feature drummer Derek Grant, who has been with the band since their 2003 album, ‘Good Mourning’.
In an interview with NME in 2021, Skiba stated that he had been working on Alkaline Trio music that took sonic cues from The Strokes. “There’s a lot of really cool stuff on that latest record (The Strokes’ ‘The New Abnormal’) and when I’m just tinkering around the guitar, I catch myself referencing it,” he said. “There’s some mid-tempo songs that may or may not be on the new Trio record that were definitely inspired by The Strokes.”
‘Blood, Hair and Eyeballs’ also marks Matt Skiba’s first album with Alkaline trio since leaving Blink-182, following Tom DeLonge’s return to the famed pop-punk trio. Upon his departure, both Skiba and DeLonge mutually expressed appreciation for each other, with Skiba commenting that DeLonge’s return made him “truly happy”. Writing on Instagram, he said: “I’m sure there’s a joke in here about releases and happy endings I’m missing but I am truly grateful for my time with blink and I am truly happy you guys are a band and a family again.”
