Review
Matt Skiba and the Sekrets
Kuts

Matt Skiba's latest side project sound like they've been born out of the wave of late-90s American indie that brought us the likes of Weezer and Blind Melon, and with Skiba adopting a Bowie-esque aesthetic on the band's album cover it gives the impression of a band fully embracing the indie sensibilities that they couldn't explore in as much depth in their main bands. Kuts is Skiba's second album with AFI bassist Hunter Burgan and My Chemical Romance's former touring drummer Jarrod Alexander, filled with tales of the ubiquitous much-reviled relationships that have been a near constant in Skiba's lyrics, sidled alongside some broader explorations of the world Skiba finds himself surrounded by.

At pains to make it clear that The Sekrets should be recognised as a completely separate entity from Alkaline Trio, to the extent that Skiba enlisted sometime Elliott Smith band member and producer Rob Schnapf (who's unfamiliar with AK3's output) to oversee the production of Kuts, there are clear distinctions between his primary band and the work here. While the subject matter of Skiba's lyrics remain largely unchanged, here he marries his typically acerbic and world-weary take on relationships with a radio-friendly backing that envelopes each track in an obsidian sheen that simply couldn't have been achieved in AK3.

Nestled in determined drum rolls and jangly guitar thrills that evoke a breezy Southern California day on "I Just Killed To Say I Love You", Skiba's vocals nonchalantly intone "I just called to wish you well/I just called to say goodbye/Save a place for you in hell/See you down there when you die". On "Krazy" he confronts his anger at a failing relationship, singing "I beat my/Myself black and blue/You cut your/Yourself up it's true" in a tumult of bass hooks and pummelling drums that you'll be singing along to in seconds. It's difficult truths and unabridged anger driven by unshakeably catchy pop sensibilities that lull you into a false sense of security. The only time this slips is on the jagged and aggressive "She Said" where Skiba recounts being told to "Shut up, you fucking know-it-all/I've had it with this shit" as an interminable riff pounces and drags you in.

There's something altogether more colourful and unassuming here than might be expected from the three-piece. Hunter Burgan's experimental prowess is evidenced by his former Prince-indebted solo project Hunter Revenge, where Jarrod Alexander joined him as a touring musician, even though Alexander's role as the original drummer for Death by Stereo means he's more frequently recognised as a hardcore drummer. The Sekrets' debut Babylon sounded like tentative first steps, while Kuts sounds like a full immersion.

Kuts can at times appear skittish, but there is a thread that neatly weaves itself through the songs. The bulk of the album deals with relationship woes and failed attempts at self-medicating ("Tore out my liver when I left Chicago/I swore I'd never go back down that road/That leaves me at the bottom of the bottle/Lonely and cold") and vying for escape by traversing different cities ("I left the Windy City/For the one out by the bay/I left to meet the angels/Who've fallen in LA") before the hedonistic and rage-tinged exploration comes to a close on the acoustic-led parting track "Vienna". Here escape and distance suddenly lose their appeal as Skiba addresses the Austrian city with the acceptance that "I will return to you one day/But for now I just can't stay", we can only assume before heading back into the unwelcoming world he'd been running away from.