Moving effortlessly through an hour-and-a-half set, Alkaline Trio showed the sold-out crowd at the Metro last night that while their hair may be thinning, these old punks can still rock. The Chicago natives have been playing their dark twist of catchy, hook-laden punk since 1997, when they first realized that violent lyrical imagery could bring “broken hearted” to a whole new literal level. The band has stuck faithfully to that combination ever since, and its newest album This Addiction (which just dropped last week) proves the Trio can still sound fresh even as it delivers the same old thing.

Rather than draw heavily from its newest release, the Trio picked out a few songs from throughout its seven studio album discography (disregarding 2008’s forgettable Agony and Irony and 2005’s pretty awful Crimson). Sporting a short brim hat and silly, indie glasses, singer and guitarist Matt Skiba came out looking like a mild, mannered indie rocker before launching into “This Addiction,” the big opener off the new album. Though it’s got some of the band’s cheesiest lyrics yet (”You hit me just like heroin… I go through withdrawal without you,”), it’s also got the same quick and powerful guitar riffs and snappy drumbeats that made the Trio worth listening to in the first place. Most importantly, Skiba’s voice sounded better than ever. The smoker’s rasp that hampered his vocals on 2003’s Good Mourning and Crimson had vanished, and he delivered his familiar, full croon with an ease and awesomeness that I’d never heard live before.

Other highlights included “We’ve Had Enough,” “Stupid Kid” and “Radio,” three oldies improved upon by the crowd’s help and drummer Derek Grant. I used to have my misgivings about Grant, who joined the band in 2001 and ushered it into its era of least memorable albums (Good Mourningthrough Agony and Irony). But his combination of fast and powerful snare and bass beats with effortless alternating between the crash and high hat fleshed out the old songs, while his backup vocals on the new ones cemented his presence as indispensable.

The Trio’s reliance on familiar tricks can be frustrating for those wishing it’d try something new for a change, but the repetition pays off when the band plays live—it makes everything look easy while still sounding great.

Set: “This Addiction,” “Armageddon,” “Emma,” “Dine, Dine, My Darling,” “We’ve Had Enough,” “Mr. Chainsaw,” “Dead on the Floor,” “Fatally Yours,” “Crawl,” “Stupid Kid,” “Snake Oil Tanker,” “Blue Carolina,” “Private Eye,” “100 Stories,” Dorothy,” “Sadie,” “My Friend Peter,” “97″

Encore: “Fine,” “Attitude (Misfits cover),” “Radio”

Photos: Jacob Nelson