The Lawrence Arms
Encyclopedia
The Lawrence Arms are an American punk rock
band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1999. They have released five full-length albums and toured extensively.
had played in the ska punk
band Slapstick
alongside Dan Andriano
, who would later join Alkaline Trio
(the two would reunite in 2004 to form The Falcon
). Chris McCaughan
had played in Tricky Dick before joining Kelly in The Broadways
. McCaughan and Kelly also shared an apartment together on Chicago's north side. Neil Hennessy
, meanwhile, had played in a band called Baxter
. Both Slapstick and the Broadways released albums on Asian Man Records
, a small record label based in Monte Sereno, California
that would later release albums by the Lawrence Arms.
s and 7" vinyl
singles, the band members used their existing relationship with Asian Man Records to immediately begin recording a full-length album, A Guided Tour of Chicago
, which was released later that year. A second album, Ghost Stories, followed in 2000. Both albums focused heavily on the members' own stories of growing up and living in Chicago.
The band's next two releases were split EP
s with other bands. The first, a split with Shady View Terrace, was released in 2000 and was their first release to be recorded by Matt Allison, who would continue to record and produce all of their subsequent releases. A second EP, Present Day Memories
, was released in 2001 and was a split with The Chinkees
.
, who signed them to his Fat Wreck Chords
label in late 2001. Their first release on the label was a 7" vinyl single, part of the label's "Fat Club" series of 7" records. This was followed by the full-length album Apathy and Exhaustion
, released in 2002. The album spawned the band's second music video
, for the song "Porno and Snuff Films," and they toured extensively with NOFX and other bands from the Fat label.
Their next album was 2003's The Greatest Story Ever Told. Their most ambitious album to date, it demonstrated the band members' continued growth as musicians and songwriters and included extensive footnotes to the lyrics detailing their many references to history, literature and pop culture. It also showed an evolution in the band's vocal style. Kelly had sung most of the vocals on their first album, while on subsequent releases he and McCaughan had split vocal duties almost equally from one song to the next, with Kelly's voice tending to sound more harsh and urgent while McCaughan's sounds more relaxed and melodic. With this release, however, the two began to move towards more of a duet style of singing which would feature prominently on their next album. Extensive touring following the album's release saw the band on the road for much of 2003 and 2004. They also contributed a song to the Fat Wreck Chords Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2
compilation, leading up to the 2004 presidential election and became involved with the Punk Voter campaign.
The Lawrence Arms also played a portion of the 2004 Warped Tour
, but the band's attitude towards the tour resulted in controversy. In a 2006 interview, Kelly claimed that the band "did like seven days of it and we got kicked off it, banned for life" for "pointing out the obvious flaws of the Warped Tour, on stage while the people running the Warped Tour were watching us." When asked his opinion of the tour, Kelly responded:
He further likened the experience of Warped Tour to "going to a band shell and buying twelve dollar bottles of water and standing there watching your favorite band play from like a million feet away." He also criticized the tour's effect on punk rock and independent music as a whole: "Now people talk about the Warped Tour like it's the greatest thing to ever happen to punk rock, it's not the greatest thing to ever happen to punk rock - it's single handedly dismantling the whole thing we've been fucking building for all this time and nobody gives a fuck...And that's why it's the worst thing to ever happen to punk rock, or DIY music in general." Their next album, 2006's Oh! Calcutta!
, included a hidden track
entitled "Warped Summer Extravaganza (Major Excellent)" referencing their attitude towards the tour.
of the Alkaline Trio
(who had played with Kelly in Slapstick
) and Todd Mohney
, formerly of Rise Against
, to form another band called The Falcon
, and released an EP on Red Scare Industries
. Meanwhile, with interest in the Lawrence Arms increasing and their EPs out of print, Asian Man Records planned a CD release of the band's EP tracks. The resulting compilation album, Cocktails & Dreams
, was released on Asian Man in June 2005 and included their songs from both EPs along with nearly all of their compilation tracks, rare songs and b-sides
.
The Lawrence Arms re-entered the studio in October and November 2005 and recorded the album Oh! Calcutta!
, which was released on Fat Wreck Chords in March 2006. It had an overall faster and more urgent feel to it than their previous album, and demonstrated another step in the development of their singing as Kelly and McCaughan shared vocals in a duet style on nearly every song. They filmed a music video for the song "The Devil's Takin' Names" and toured throughout 2006 with a number of bands including NOFX, Alkaline Trio, The Draft
, Lagwagon
and A Wilhelm Scream
. A full-length album by the Falcon was released that Fall, and in December The Lawrence Arms embarked on their first headlining tour of Australia
, also playing supporting shows with Frenzal Rhomb
.
In March 2007 McCaughan released the debut album from his acoustic side-project Sundowner
. The Lawrence Arms toured again in the Fall of 2007, with their side projects The Falcon and Sundowner as openers along with the recently reunited American Steel
. McCaughan also toured as Sundowner in the mainly acoustic/folk "Revival Tour" featuring Chuck Ragan of Hot Water Music, Ben Nichols of Lucero, and Tim Barry. Hennessy also joined fellow Chicagoans Smoking Popes
and toured with them.
, it was released on October 27 of that year through Fat Wreck Chords
both as a 7" EP and as a digital download with an extra song. They then went on a tenth anniversary performance in October at the Metro Chicago
, followed by a seven-date headlining tour of Arizona
and California
in November with Teenage Bottlerocket
and Cobra Skulls
as support.
of The Lawrence Arms consists of five studio album
s, one compilation album
, four EP
s, and three music video
s.
s. This is not an exhaustive list; songs that were first released on the band's albums and EPs are not included.
}
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|rowspan="2"|2003
|Oil: Chicago Punk Refined
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|Experiments in Audio Rocketry
|
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|2004
|Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2
|
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|2005
|
|
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|}
I Denotes songs that were re-released on Cocktails & Dreams.
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1999. They have released five full-length albums and toured extensively.
Pre-history
Prior to forming the Lawrence Arms, the three band members were active in other Chicago-area bands. Brendan KellyBrendan Kelly (musician)
Brendan Kelly is the bassist/vocalist of Chicago-based punk band The Lawrence Arms, as well as guitarist/lead vocalist in The Falcon. Kelly's former bands include Slapstick and The Broadways...
had played in the ska punk
Ska punk
Ska punk is a fusion music genre that combines ska and punk rock. It achieved its highest level of commercial success in the United States in the late 1990s. Ska-core is a subgenre of ska punk, blending ska with hardcore punk.The characteristics of ska punk vary, due to the fusion of contrasting...
band Slapstick
Slapstick (band)
Slapstick was a punk-ska fusion band formed in Chicago by a group of friends from the Elgin area. The group took some cues from the seminal ska/punk outfit Operation Ivy and the guttural punk vocals of Crimpshrine, but developed their own unique style. The group was active from 1993 to 1996 on...
alongside Dan Andriano
Dan Andriano
Daniel Michael Andriano is the bassist and co-vocalist of the punk rock band Alkaline Trio.-Education and early bands:...
, who would later join Alkaline Trio
Alkaline Trio
Alkaline Trio is an American punk rock band that formed in McHenry, Illinois, in 1996. The band's line-up consists of Matt Skiba , Dan Andriano , and Derek Grant...
(the two would reunite in 2004 to form The Falcon
The Falcon (band)
The Falcon is a Chicago-based punk rock supergroup. The band features The Lawrence Arms members Brendan Kelly and Neil Hennessy on drums, as well as Alkaline Trio's Dan Andriano...
). Chris McCaughan
Chris McCaughan
Chris McCaughan is the guitarist and vocalist in the band The Lawrence Arms. McCaughan was formerly the guitarist for the bands Tricky Dick and The Broadways ....
had played in Tricky Dick before joining Kelly in The Broadways
The Broadways
The Broadways were a short-lived punk band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1996 after the dissolution of the influential ska-punk band Slapstick. The latter's vocalist Brendan Kelly and trumpet player Dan Hanaway assumed the roles of bassist and guitarist, joined by Rob DePaola on drums and Chris...
. McCaughan and Kelly also shared an apartment together on Chicago's north side. Neil Hennessy
Neil Hennessy
Neil Kevin Hennessy is a musician and music producer/engineer from Chicago, Illinois.Hennessy currently plays in The Lawrence Arms, Colossal, The Falcon, The Smoking Popes and Demon Beach. He has also been a member of Noise By Numbers, Baxter, The Killing Tree, and Quattro.Hennessy works at Atlas...
, meanwhile, had played in a band called Baxter
Baxter (punk band)
Baxter was a Chicago post-hardcore band. The band consisted of Tim McIlrath , Neil Hennessy, , Timothy Remis, and a bassist only referred to as J...
. Both Slapstick and the Broadways released albums on Asian Man Records
Asian Man Records
Asian Man Records is a small, DIY record label run by Mike Park in Monte Sereno, California. Park started a record label and began releasing music in 1989 under the name Dill Records, with the Asian Man label established May 1996.-Artists:...
, a small record label based in Monte Sereno, California
Monte Sereno, California
Monte Sereno is a city in Santa Clara County, California, USA. The population was 3,341 at the 2010 census. The city is located in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, about 10 miles southwest of San Jose and is immediately northwest of Los Gatos. The city is named for the 2249 ft...
that would later release albums by the Lawrence Arms.
Formation and Asian Man years
The three musicians came together to form the Lawrence Arms in 1999, taking their name from the apartment complex in which Kelly and McCaughan had lived before being evicted in the middle of the night. Although punk rock bands in their infancy generally start out by releasing EPExtended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
s and 7" vinyl
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
singles, the band members used their existing relationship with Asian Man Records to immediately begin recording a full-length album, A Guided Tour of Chicago
A Guided Tour of Chicago
A Guided Tour of Chicago is a punk rock album by the Chicago, Illinois band The Lawrence Arms, released in 1999 by Asian Man Records. It was the band's first album, notable because the band had not previously released any EPs or 7" singles A Guided Tour of Chicago is a punk rock album by the...
, which was released later that year. A second album, Ghost Stories, followed in 2000. Both albums focused heavily on the members' own stories of growing up and living in Chicago.
The band's next two releases were split EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
s with other bands. The first, a split with Shady View Terrace, was released in 2000 and was their first release to be recorded by Matt Allison, who would continue to record and produce all of their subsequent releases. A second EP, Present Day Memories
Present Day Memories
Present Day Memories is an EP by the Chicago, Illinois punk rock band The Lawrence Arms and the San Francisco, California ska band The Chinkees, released in 2001 by Asian Man Records. It is considered a "split" CD in that each band contributes several songs...
, was released in 2001 and was a split with The Chinkees
The Chinkees
The Chinkees are an American ska punk band fronted by Mike Park . The group debuted with 1998's The Chinkees Are Coming!, and followed with 1999's Peace Through Music and 2002's Searching for a Brighter Future before a greatest hits album was released in 2003...
.
Signing to Fat Wreck Chords
The band's records and touring schedule had brought them to the attention of Fat Mike of NOFXNOFX
NOFX is an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California .The band was formed in 1983 by vocalist/bassist Fat Mike and guitarist Eric Melvin. Drummer Erik Sandin joined NOFX shortly after. In 1991 El Hefe joined to play lead guitar and trumpet, rounding out the current line-up...
, who signed them to his Fat Wreck Chords
Fat Wreck Chords
Fat Wreck Chords is a San Francisco, California based independent record label, focused on punk rock. It was started by Fat Mike and his ex-wife, Erin, in 1990....
label in late 2001. Their first release on the label was a 7" vinyl single, part of the label's "Fat Club" series of 7" records. This was followed by the full-length album Apathy and Exhaustion
Apathy and Exhaustion
Apathy and Exhaustion is the third album by the Chicago, Illinois punk rock band The Lawrence Arms, released in 2002 by Fat Wreck Chords. It was the band's first to be released on Fat Wreck Chords, and with this release, the band formed a close relationship with the label and its founder Fat Mike,...
, released in 2002. The album spawned the band's second music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
, for the song "Porno and Snuff Films," and they toured extensively with NOFX and other bands from the Fat label.
Their next album was 2003's The Greatest Story Ever Told. Their most ambitious album to date, it demonstrated the band members' continued growth as musicians and songwriters and included extensive footnotes to the lyrics detailing their many references to history, literature and pop culture. It also showed an evolution in the band's vocal style. Kelly had sung most of the vocals on their first album, while on subsequent releases he and McCaughan had split vocal duties almost equally from one song to the next, with Kelly's voice tending to sound more harsh and urgent while McCaughan's sounds more relaxed and melodic. With this release, however, the two began to move towards more of a duet style of singing which would feature prominently on their next album. Extensive touring following the album's release saw the band on the road for much of 2003 and 2004. They also contributed a song to the Fat Wreck Chords Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2
Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2
Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2 is the second Rock Against Bush compilation album released on the Fat Wreck Chords record label. It contains a collection of songs by various punk rock artists, some of which were previously unreleased. It also includes a bonus DVD with political facts, commentary...
compilation, leading up to the 2004 presidential election and became involved with the Punk Voter campaign.
The Lawrence Arms also played a portion of the 2004 Warped Tour
Warped Tour
The Warped Tour is a touring music and extreme sports festival. The tour is held in venues such as parking lots or fields upon which the stages and other structures are erected. The BMX/skateboarding shoe manufacturer Vans, among others, has sponsored the tour every year since 1995, and it is...
, but the band's attitude towards the tour resulted in controversy. In a 2006 interview, Kelly claimed that the band "did like seven days of it and we got kicked off it, banned for life" for "pointing out the obvious flaws of the Warped Tour, on stage while the people running the Warped Tour were watching us." When asked his opinion of the tour, Kelly responded:
Warped Tour, it’s destroying the economy of DIYDo it yourselfDo it yourself is a term used to describe building, modifying, or repairing of something without the aid of experts or professionals...
; and it’s doing it very methodically and very successfully in that [the] summer touring season used to involve a bunch of bands, like Alkaline TrioAlkaline TrioAlkaline Trio is an American punk rock band that formed in McHenry, Illinois, in 1996. The band's line-up consists of Matt Skiba , Dan Andriano , and Derek Grant...
for example, jumping on buses and taking smaller bands, like us and The Black MariaThe Black MariaThe Black Maria was a rock band from Toronto, Canada. After touring and recording actively between 2003–2007, the band has gone into a permanent hiatus.-History:The Black Maria was formed in 2003, based out of the Greater Toronto Area in Canada....
for example, on tour. There would be all these bands that would do that, so all these support bands would have great tours to go on. Kids in every town would have a bunch of different shows to go see, like over the summer. Small clubs would have big, good shows at least once a week if not twice a week, three times a week; and kids would have stuff to do. Now, all those big bands go on the Warped Tour. When they come to town, it’s for one day. It’s in a band shell, small clubs all across the US are closing down, they can’t afford to be open. Bands like us have to tour against the Warped Tour, which sucks; or tour on the Warped Tour, which sucks even more.
He further likened the experience of Warped Tour to "going to a band shell and buying twelve dollar bottles of water and standing there watching your favorite band play from like a million feet away." He also criticized the tour's effect on punk rock and independent music as a whole: "Now people talk about the Warped Tour like it's the greatest thing to ever happen to punk rock, it's not the greatest thing to ever happen to punk rock - it's single handedly dismantling the whole thing we've been fucking building for all this time and nobody gives a fuck...And that's why it's the worst thing to ever happen to punk rock, or DIY music in general." Their next album, 2006's Oh! Calcutta!
Oh! Calcutta! (album)
Oh! Calcutta! is a punk rock album by the Chicago, Illinois band The Lawrence Arms, released in 2006 by Fat Wreck Chords. It is the band's fifth full-length album and their third to be released on Fat Wreck Chords...
, included a hidden track
Hidden track
In the field of recorded music, a hidden track is a piece of music that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, vinyl record or other recorded medium in such a way as to avoid detection by the casual listener...
entitled "Warped Summer Extravaganza (Major Excellent)" referencing their attitude towards the tour.
The Falcon, Sundowner, and Oh! Calcutta!
In December 2004 Kelly and Hennessy joined with fellow Chicago natives Dan AndrianoDan Andriano
Daniel Michael Andriano is the bassist and co-vocalist of the punk rock band Alkaline Trio.-Education and early bands:...
of the Alkaline Trio
Alkaline Trio
Alkaline Trio is an American punk rock band that formed in McHenry, Illinois, in 1996. The band's line-up consists of Matt Skiba , Dan Andriano , and Derek Grant...
(who had played with Kelly in Slapstick
Slapstick (band)
Slapstick was a punk-ska fusion band formed in Chicago by a group of friends from the Elgin area. The group took some cues from the seminal ska/punk outfit Operation Ivy and the guttural punk vocals of Crimpshrine, but developed their own unique style. The group was active from 1993 to 1996 on...
) and Todd Mohney
Todd Mohney
Todd Mohney is an American guitarist, who formerly played guitar for the melodic hardcore band Rise Against. He is from Joliet, Illinois and currently resides in Los Angeles. He was active in The Killing Tree side-project band with Rise Against vocalist Tim McIlrath. The Killing Tree hasn't played...
, formerly of Rise Against
Rise Against
Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1999. The band currently consists of Tim McIlrath , Zach Blair , Joe Principe and Brandon Barnes .Rise Against spent its first five years signed to the independent record label Fat Wreck Chords, on which it...
, to form another band called The Falcon
The Falcon (band)
The Falcon is a Chicago-based punk rock supergroup. The band features The Lawrence Arms members Brendan Kelly and Neil Hennessy on drums, as well as Alkaline Trio's Dan Andriano...
, and released an EP on Red Scare Industries
Red Scare Industries
Red Scare Industries is a punk rock record label. The label was started in San Francisco by former Fat Wreck Chords employee Toby Jeg....
. Meanwhile, with interest in the Lawrence Arms increasing and their EPs out of print, Asian Man Records planned a CD release of the band's EP tracks. The resulting compilation album, Cocktails & Dreams
Cocktails & Dreams
Cocktails & Dreams is an album of B-Sides and rarities by the Chicago, Illinois punk rock band The Lawrence Arms, released in 2005 by Asian Man Records...
, was released on Asian Man in June 2005 and included their songs from both EPs along with nearly all of their compilation tracks, rare songs and b-sides
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
.
The Lawrence Arms re-entered the studio in October and November 2005 and recorded the album Oh! Calcutta!
Oh! Calcutta! (album)
Oh! Calcutta! is a punk rock album by the Chicago, Illinois band The Lawrence Arms, released in 2006 by Fat Wreck Chords. It is the band's fifth full-length album and their third to be released on Fat Wreck Chords...
, which was released on Fat Wreck Chords in March 2006. It had an overall faster and more urgent feel to it than their previous album, and demonstrated another step in the development of their singing as Kelly and McCaughan shared vocals in a duet style on nearly every song. They filmed a music video for the song "The Devil's Takin' Names" and toured throughout 2006 with a number of bands including NOFX, Alkaline Trio, The Draft
The Draft (band)
The Draft are a band featuring Hot Water Music members Jason Black, George Rebelo and Chris Wollard. The band also features guitarist Todd Rockhill of Black Cougar Shock Unit, Discount and a host of other Gainesville, Florida based acts....
, Lagwagon
Lagwagon
Lagwagon is an American punk rock band originally from Goleta, just outside Santa Barbara, California. They formed in 1990 and went on hiatus and reunited several times over the years...
and A Wilhelm Scream
A Wilhelm Scream
A Wilhelm Scream is a melodic hardcore band from New Bedford, Massachusetts. Many people have referenced Strung Out, Hot Water Music, Propagandhi, and Strike Anywhere as the band's similar artists. Their name is a reference to the Wilhelm Scream, a famous stock sound effect which mainly is used in...
. A full-length album by the Falcon was released that Fall, and in December The Lawrence Arms embarked on their first headlining tour of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, also playing supporting shows with Frenzal Rhomb
Frenzal Rhomb
Frenzal Rhomb are an Australian punk rock band which formed in 1992 with mainstay Jason Whalley on lead vocals and rhythm guitar. In 1996, Lindsay McDougall joined the line-up on lead guitar and backing vocals. Two of the group's albums have peaked into the top 20 on the ARIA Albums Chart, A...
.
In March 2007 McCaughan released the debut album from his acoustic side-project Sundowner
Sundowner (band)
Sundowner is an acoustic project of Chris McCaughan of The Lawrence Arms, also featuring Jenny Choi, Neil Hennessy, and Eli Caterer.Their debut album, Four One Five Two, was released on Red Scare Records on March 13, 2007...
. The Lawrence Arms toured again in the Fall of 2007, with their side projects The Falcon and Sundowner as openers along with the recently reunited American Steel
American Steel
American Steel is an American punk rock band formed in 1995 in Oakland, California. When offered their first show, the group took their name from the block-long sign on the warehouse across the street...
. McCaughan also toured as Sundowner in the mainly acoustic/folk "Revival Tour" featuring Chuck Ragan of Hot Water Music, Ben Nichols of Lucero, and Tim Barry. Hennessy also joined fellow Chicagoans Smoking Popes
Smoking Popes
The Smoking Popes are an American pop punk from the northwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1991. They play punk-influenced pop music with crooning vocals...
and toured with them.
Recent activity
In June 2009 The Lawrence Arms recorded a new studio EP. Titled Buttsweat and TearsButtsweat and Tears
-Personnel:*Chris McCaughan - guitar, vocals*Brendan Kelly - bass guitar, vocals*Neil Hennessy - drums...
, it was released on October 27 of that year through Fat Wreck Chords
Fat Wreck Chords
Fat Wreck Chords is a San Francisco, California based independent record label, focused on punk rock. It was started by Fat Mike and his ex-wife, Erin, in 1990....
both as a 7" EP and as a digital download with an extra song. They then went on a tenth anniversary performance in October at the Metro Chicago
Metro Chicago
This page is about the concert hall; for the metro region surrounding Chicago, see Chicago metropolitan area.Metro is a concert hall at 3730 N. Clark Street in Chicago, Illinois that plays host to a variety of local, regional and national emerging bands and musicians. The Metro was first opened in...
, followed by a seven-date headlining tour of Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
and California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in November with Teenage Bottlerocket
Teenage Bottlerocket
Teenage Bottlerocket is a punk rock band formed in Laramie, Wyoming in 2001.The band was formed by twin brothers Ray and Brandon Carlisle, following the dissolution of their previous band, Homeless Wonders, in 2000...
and Cobra Skulls
Cobra Skulls
Cobra Skulls are a punk rock band from Reno, Nevada who are signed to Fat Wreck Chords.-History:Cobra Skulls were formed in Reno, NV in 2005 by Devin Peralta , Charlie Parker and Chad Cleveland . They released an EP titled Draw Muhammad in 2006...
as support.
Band members
- Chris McCaughanChris McCaughanChris McCaughan is the guitarist and vocalist in the band The Lawrence Arms. McCaughan was formerly the guitarist for the bands Tricky Dick and The Broadways ....
- guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Brendan KellyBrendan Kelly (musician)Brendan Kelly is the bassist/vocalist of Chicago-based punk band The Lawrence Arms, as well as guitarist/lead vocalist in The Falcon. Kelly's former bands include Slapstick and The Broadways...
- bass, vocalsBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Neil HennessyNeil HennessyNeil Kevin Hennessy is a musician and music producer/engineer from Chicago, Illinois.Hennessy currently plays in The Lawrence Arms, Colossal, The Falcon, The Smoking Popes and Demon Beach. He has also been a member of Noise By Numbers, Baxter, The Killing Tree, and Quattro.Hennessy works at Atlas...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Discography
The discographyDiscography
Discography is the study and listing of the details concerning sound recordings, often by specified artists or within identified musical genres...
of The Lawrence Arms consists of five studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
s, one compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
, four EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
s, and three music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s.
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard charts The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine... |
|||
| Independent |
Heatseekers Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
||
| 1999 | A Guided Tour of Chicago A Guided Tour of Chicago A Guided Tour of Chicago is a punk rock album by the Chicago, Illinois band The Lawrence Arms, released in 1999 by Asian Man Records. It was the band's first album, notable because the band had not previously released any EPs or 7" singles A Guided Tour of Chicago is a punk rock album by the...
|
— | — |
| 2000 | Ghost Stories
|
— | — |
| 2002 | Apathy and Exhaustion Apathy and Exhaustion Apathy and Exhaustion is the third album by the Chicago, Illinois punk rock band The Lawrence Arms, released in 2002 by Fat Wreck Chords. It was the band's first to be released on Fat Wreck Chords, and with this release, the band formed a close relationship with the label and its founder Fat Mike,... Fat Wreck Chords Fat Wreck Chords is a San Francisco, California based independent record label, focused on punk rock. It was started by Fat Mike and his ex-wife, Erin, in 1990.... LP album The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry... , CD |
— | — |
| 2003 | The Greatest Story Ever Told
|
— | — |
| 2006 | Oh! Calcutta! Oh! Calcutta! (album) Oh! Calcutta! is a punk rock album by the Chicago, Illinois band The Lawrence Arms, released in 2006 by Fat Wreck Chords. It is the band's fifth full-length album and their third to be released on Fat Wreck Chords... |
34 | 26 |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||
Compilation albums
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Cocktails & Dreams Cocktails & Dreams Cocktails & Dreams is an album of B-Sides and rarities by the Chicago, Illinois punk rock band The Lawrence Arms, released in 2005 by Asian Man Records...
|
Extended plays
| Year | EP details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| US Billboard charts The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine... |
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| Heatseekers Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
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| 2000 | Shady View Terrace / The Lawrence Arms
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| 2001 | Present Day Memories Present Day Memories Present Day Memories is an EP by the Chicago, Illinois punk rock band The Lawrence Arms and the San Francisco, California ska band The Chinkees, released in 2001 by Asian Man Records. It is considered a "split" CD in that each band contributes several songs... |
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| 2002 | Fat Club Fat Club The Fat Club is a series of twelve 7-inch singles released monthly by Fat Wreck Chords from February 2001 to January 2002. Limited numbers of each single were pressed; They were not available for sale individually, but were distributed by postal service to those who purchased a subscription to the... Fat Wreck Chords Fat Wreck Chords is a San Francisco, California based independent record label, focused on punk rock. It was started by Fat Mike and his ex-wife, Erin, in 1990.... |
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| 2009 | Buttsweat and Tears Buttsweat and Tears -Personnel:*Chris McCaughan - guitar, vocals*Brendan Kelly - bass guitar, vocals*Neil Hennessy - drums... Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... |
38 |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | ||
Music videos
| Year | Song | Director | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | "An Evening of Extraordinary Circumstance" | Brendan Kelly | A Guided Tour of Chicago A Guided Tour of Chicago A Guided Tour of Chicago is a punk rock album by the Chicago, Illinois band The Lawrence Arms, released in 1999 by Asian Man Records. It was the band's first album, notable because the band had not previously released any EPs or 7" singles A Guided Tour of Chicago is a punk rock album by the... |
| 2002 | "Porno and Snuff Films" | Bob Trondson | Apathy and Exhaustion Apathy and Exhaustion Apathy and Exhaustion is the third album by the Chicago, Illinois punk rock band The Lawrence Arms, released in 2002 by Fat Wreck Chords. It was the band's first to be released on Fat Wreck Chords, and with this release, the band formed a close relationship with the label and its founder Fat Mike,... |
| 2006 | "The Devil's Takin' Names" | Oh! Calcutta! Oh! Calcutta! (album) Oh! Calcutta! is a punk rock album by the Chicago, Illinois band The Lawrence Arms, released in 2006 by Fat Wreck Chords. It is the band's fifth full-length album and their third to be released on Fat Wreck Chords... |
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Other appearances
The following Lawrence Arms songs were released on compilation albums and as music downloadMusic download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
s. This is not an exhaustive list; songs that were first released on the band's albums and EPs are not included.
| Year | Release details | Track |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 1157 Wheeler Avenue
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| Uncontrollable Fatulence Uncontrollable Fatulence Fat Music Volume 6: Uncontrollable Fatulence was the sixth compilation album in the "Fat Music" series, released by the Fat Wreck Chords record label, in 2002... Fat Wreck Chords Fat Wreck Chords is a San Francisco, California based independent record label, focused on punk rock. It was started by Fat Mike and his ex-wife, Erin, in 1990.... |
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|rowspan="2"|2003
|Oil: Chicago Punk Refined
OIL: Chicago Punk Refined
OIL: Chicago Punk Refined is a punk compilation CD released in 2003 on Thick Records. All tracks were recorded over a 15 day period in an old oil blending factory located on Chicago's South Side. It was recorded by Lance Reynolds and produced by Billy Spunke...
- Released: February 11, 2003
- Label: ThickThick RecordsTHICK RECORDS is a Chicago based independent record label formed in 1994 by Detroit native Zak Einstein. Early label releases include influential albums from Chicago ska-punkers The Blue Meanies, Alton, IL’s Judge Nothing, and the Omaha based Commander Venus, whose members included Conor Oberst,...
- Format: CD
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- "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been"
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|Experiments in Audio Rocketry
- Released: September 2, 2003
- Label: 1-2-3-4 Go
- Format: CD
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- "Traditional"
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|2004
|Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2
Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2
Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2 is the second Rock Against Bush compilation album released on the Fat Wreck Chords record label. It contains a collection of songs by various punk rock artists, some of which were previously unreleased. It also includes a bonus DVD with political facts, commentary...
- Released: August 10, 2004
- Label: Fat Wreck Chords
- Format: CD
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- "Necrotism: Decanting the Insalubrious (Cyborg Midnight), Part 7"
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|2005
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- Released: March 7, 2005
- Label: none
- Format: downloadMusic downloadA music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
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- "Criminal"
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I Denotes songs that were re-released on Cocktails & Dreams.