Apathy and Exhaustion

The Lawrence Arms

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 19, 2002)
• Original Release Date: February 12, 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Fat Wreck Chords
• ASIN: B00005Y1TK
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #31,134 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars lawrence arms - apathy and exhaustion, April 26, 2003

By	dave (Clevo, OH) - See all my reviews

fantastic. this album out-does thier previous "ghost stories". the lawrence arms feature a great melodic sound encompassed by vocals thrown between scratchy and snarly to soft and gentle. with superb songwriting and the ability to keep your ears glued to the almost 'alkaline trio-esque' intensity, this album is the lawrence arms' greatest to date.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars lawrence arms - apathy and exhaustion, April 26, 2003

By	dave (Clevo, OH) - See all my reviews

fantastic. this album out-does thier previous "ghost stories". the lawrence arms feature a great melodic sound encompassed by vocals thrown between scratchy and snarly to soft and gentle. with superb songwriting and the ability to keep your ears glued to the almost 'alkaline trio-esque' intensity, this album is the lawrence arms' greatest to date.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic....best record of 2002, November 7, 2002

By	"mule425" (Redmond, WA) - See all my reviews

As of late, the "punk rock" scene has been permiated with cookie cutter "pop-punk" bands composed of nineteen year old boys complaining about their love lives. you know who i'm talking about...anyways, it seems to me that every time i turn on the radio, i'm hit with a new "punk" band that sounds just like the last.

in a time like this, it's nice to have a band like the lawrence arms.

with their third release, the lawrence arms have completely outdone themselves. "apathy and exhaustion" totally levels either of their previous two full lengths, and stands out as one of the most exciting records to hit the streets in the last several years.

the lawrence arms are fronted by brendan kelly and chris mccaughn, both of whom are seasoned veterans of the fuming chicago punk rock scene. kelly is the former frontman of slapstick, a short-lived ska favorite, and teamed with mccaughn in fronting the broadways, who before breaking up, resembled a slightly more political lawrence arms. in any case, the two vocalists contrast beautifully on this record. brendan's songs tend to be more charged, while chris' lean more towards the relaxed, intelligent side of the spectrum. their individual vocal stylings and the vivid imagery in their lyrics make "apathy and exhaustion" especially appealing lyrically. listening to songs like "the first eviction notice" or "brickwall views", one can almost feel the icy sting of the chicago air on a bleak december morning. you can almost smell the pungent odor of stale cigarette smoke and cheap beer on your own breath as you sit in a dank project basement. indeed, this is an album that was influenced as much by the enviroment it was written in as it was by the scene it's creators grew up in.

musically, "apathy and exhaustion" is a far cry from the poppy guitar hooks and recycled drum beats we're used to these days. the guitars are powerful, yet not overdriven. the bass is driving, yet reserved, and the drums hold the whole thing thing together (as always).

standout tracks on this record include the single "porno and snuff films" (which was played on mtv2 for a period of time), "the first eviction notice", "your gravest words", "boatless booze cruise part 1", "brickwall views" and "Right As Rain part 2"...but the entire album is fantastic. it comes highly recomended by myself to pretty much anyone who likes anything that has ever been called punk. fans of rancid and fans of blink-182 alike may finally have an album to agree on.