One is welcomed to the official Alkaline Trio website by a cartoon montage that has nothing to do with "the funnies": three nooses wagging in the wind over a dismal grave yard and the grim reaper as welcoming committee. Funny to think that two of these dark punk rockers were once bike messengers in Chicago, where the trio was formed in 1997. Originals Matt Skiba (vocals/guitar), Glenn Porter (drums/vocals), and Rob Doran (bass/vocals) made up the skull-motif band whose introspective lyrical angst and emotional elements met quick pop-punk and crunchy guitar riffs on albums like For Your Lungs and Goddamnit. Doran left in late '97 and was replaced by Dan Andriano, formerly of Slapstick. Porter left in 2000 and was replaced by ex-Smoking Popes member Mike Felumlee. Since the 2000 reconstruction of the trio, two albums have been released; From Here to Infirmary (2001) and Good Mourning (2003). Alkaline Trio minces no words, decrying the modern, pre-Alkaline Trio version of punk as "... Dull as shit," and is serious in its pursuit of the deep, the dark and the... Dark.