The Lawrence Arms

The Lawrence Arms (sometimes called The Larry Arms ) is a group of Punk rock'n'roll of Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1999 by Brendan Kelly, Chris McCaughan and Neil Hennessy. Their name is in the beginning that of a real complex located in a disadvantaged district of Chicago where they lived a time. The biographical note on fatwreck.com specifies that they were expelled by it in the middle of the night.

History

All the members of Lawrence Arms formed already part of the punk scene rock'n'roll of Chicago and played in other groups, in particular Slapstick (of which the descent counts, in addition to Larry Arms, Alkaline Trio and Tuesday), then The Broadways, before founding Arms. Besides Brendan and Neil continue to take part together in a side-project , The Falcon, in company of daN Adriano of Alkaline Trio and Todd Mohney, ex-guitarist of Rise Against. The Falcon left a EP entitled God Don' T Make No Trash - But Up Your Ass With Broken Glass and the exit of an album entitled Unicornography took place on September 12th 2006. Neil also has coécrit with Tim McIlrath, " Swing Life Away" , the acoustic ballade which opened the doors of success with Rise Against. As for Chris, its acoustic solo project takes form gradually: after having put in line regularly of new songs to download free on its myspace page, he officially baptized this project Sundowner solo, whose first album, heading Four One Five Two is awaited on March 13rd 2007 at Red Scare.

The Lawrence Arms began their career on Asian Man Records, the Californian label of Mike Park, to which they left two albums and a couple splits . In interview for Mammoth Near, Brendan has made to know, that with its eyes, birth of The Lawrence Arms dated really only from Split with Shady View Terrace, recorded in of 2000 and who marked also the beginning of their collaboration with Matt Allison, which is given the responsability from now on to record, to mix and Co-produce all their albums.

The first two albums of the group had been recorded while at the same time they did not have more than one handle of concerts under the belt, not even ten, explains Brendan: “ Honestly, and this will sound so much shittier than I mean it to sound, goal I wouldn' T cuts could out the first two records At all. (Whole band laughs) I mean we could out the first record before we had ever played has show. By the time our second record was written we had played maybe furnace shows. So by the time we were really starting to Be has band and getting tight together was when we did the Split with Shady View Terrace. And that' S were I really feel like our band begins ace far ace what the Lawrence Arms really is. I mean those first two records, I gift' T cuts anything against them, I think they' Re cool. Goal I kind off wish they were under has different band name, but something like that. ”

End 2001, they sign with Fat Wreck Chords which leaves their new album Apathy and Exhaustion . As of the following year, in 2003 they leave a new album: The Greatest Story Ever Told . It was presented in the form of a whole organic having for central theme the world of the circus and interfered many references to the novel of Mikhaïl Boulgakov, the Master and Marguerite , whose construction (opposition between Jerusalem and Moscow) was also a starting point for the topics of the songs. In 2005, Asian Man left a compilation of B-Sides entitled Cocktails and Dreams whose Brendan tells the genesis of the title thus: “ It was one off those things where we were sitting in has bar called cocktails and dreams figuring out that we were going to cal out record cocktails and dreams and well He' S.A. marijuana enthusiast and I' m has cocktail enthusiast and there has time when those two things were different. Like I didn' T smoke pot At all and He didn' T drink At all and then the two blurred has little bit. It' S.A. b-sides record so we go back to when He has stoner and I has drunk. And we' ve always called judicious Neil “and” so it made. ”. It made have patience the fans before their fifth album, Oh! Calcutta! left the March 7th 2006 (on Conceited person). Starting from the February 9th, a song of the new album was put in listening each day on their myspace page.

Oh! Calcutta! was one of the most anticipated punk albums 2006. This album, fastest of their discography, has surprised with a sound approaching a little that The Falcon. Contrary to the two preceding albums, there are no more “songs of Chris” nor of “songs of Brendan”: Chris and Brendan equitably any more do not share the vocal tasks on the songs, singing sometimes in chorus, which reinforces the power of anthems that certain songs have, sometimes with Chris in echo of Brendan. This marks a return to their first albums, rougher and chaotic that Apathy and Exhaustion and The Greatest Story Ever Told : certain fans saw there an answer to the charges carried against the group after the exit of The Greatest Story Ever Told , to borrow a slope perceived like more accessible , the commercial term not sticking all the same well to Lawrence Arms, as answered Brendan when one asked him the question of the possibility of a signature about a major: “ We' Re not the kind off band anyone would want to sign to has major label. We don' T cuts choruses, but the song has minute and ten the second length, gold they' long Re five minutes and they cuts No repeating shares At all. I would never say never, goal I would really Be surprised yew I ever had to make the choice. The other not is that yew I wanted to sign to has major, I would cuts written has very different record. ”. Oh! Calcutta! would be with its manner a proclamation against the selling-out . The title of this album is copied of that of the erotic musical comedy of the same name dating from the years 1970, which was originally a word game on the French expression: “Oh, what a bottom you ace! ”, invented by the painter Clovis Jitter (1889-1975) to entitle one of its works opportunely introducing a nude woman, view of back.

Style

The voices of the two singers have relatively different stamps: that of Chris is softer and hot, and that of rougher Brendan, acuter and aggressive. Brendan sings as generally much more quickly as Chris.

The Lawrence Arms play a mixture of punk nervous and raucous rock'n'roll and Pop-punk of the Midwest, very different from the “ traditional Fat sound ” of the years 1990, symbolic system of the punk Skate, but nearer of Jawbreaker, with texts where humor schoolkid and subtle cultural references are côtoient, which one can taste an outline in the footnotes added to the booklet of The Greatest Story Ever Told or quite simply in the titles of the albums: in addition to Oh! Calcutta! explained above, Ghost Stories is the title of a Japanese cartoon and The Greatest Story Ever Told that of a film of 1965 on the life of the Christ, with max von Sydow, Charlton Heston and Telly Savalas.

They are today one of the most respected groups and best liked label directed by Fat Mike because of their authenticity, their frankness and their refusal of compromising. In 2002, they had been évincés of the Warped Tour to have criticized it on scene, whereas they were taking part in it! In a recent interview Brendan Kelly explained her point of view: “ When I has kid, when I first started playing and touring, in the summertime everybody would jump in their van and go out one the road. And 50 big punk rock'n'roll bands would each bring three gold furnace support bands one turn, and cuts local openers, keeping local clubs alive and supporting this network. All the kids had shows to go to every night, and soundmen and club owners and kids had jobs. Now, all those bands play the Warped Turn, and has bunch off small bands get paid next to nothing to play At the same time ace the big bands and get seen by nobody. What' S wrong with that is, it dictates the economy off music. It' S the Wal-Mart off rock'n'roll shows, and that sucks. Yew I wanted to pay 35 bucks to stand in has dusty bandshell and drink $8 Mountain Dews, I' D go to OzzFest. Does Didn' T we start punk to cut year alternative to that? ” words of the hidden Song of Oh! Calcutta! , entitled " Warped Summer Extravaganza Major Excellent" , comprise besides makes in filigree of them the principal objections carried by The Lawrence Arms against Warped Tour.

The Lawrence Arms finished in spring a 2006 round in Europe, in first part of No Uses For has Name, carrying their total in concerts played more than eight hundreds (that in Paris the April 28th 2006 having been the eight hundred sixth!). The group had a timetable in charge until the beginning 2007 with several series of concerts with the the United States and the Canada in company of another headlight group of the scene of Chicago, Alkaline Trio, then with Lagwagon and has Wilhelm Scream inter alia.

Members

Song and Basse: Brendan Kelly, alias:
# Clarence Darrow on Apathy and Exhaustion
# Gordon Shumway ( vibraslap ) on The Greatest Story Ever Told
# Cocktails on Cocktails & Dreams
Song and Guitare: Chris McCaughan, alias:
# Lehigh Acres on Apathy and Exhaustion
# Ivan Nikolayevich ( harp and quadrant ) on The Greatest Story Ever Told
# Dreams on Cocktails & Dreams
Battery: Neil Hennessy
# Weehawken Hennessy on Apathy and Exhaustion
# Ferdinand Magellan ( bassoon ) on The Greatest Story Ever Told
# Neil Kevin Hennessy on Cocktails & Dreams

Discography

has off Guided Tour Chicago (1999)
Ghost Stories (2000)
Present Day Memories (2001) (Split with The Chinkees)
The Lawrence Arms/Shady View Terrace (2001) (Split with Shady View Terrace)
Apathy and Exhaustion (2002)
Fat Club 7 Inches (2002)
The Greatest Story Ever Told (2003)
Cocktails & Dreams (2005) (B-Sides)
Oh! Calcutta! (2006)

Videotex

"Evening Off Extraordinary Circumstances" (1999)
" Porn And Snuff Films" (2002)
" The Devil' S Takin' Names" (2006)

External bonds

The Lawrence Arms: Midwestern Beer Belly Despair Rock'n'roll
Official Site off the Falcon
The Falcon Myspace page
Conceited Wreck Chords
Asian Man Records
Interview of Lawrence Arms (in French)
Photographs in a concert in Paris

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