‘Apathy and Exhaustion’ is a great record. ‘Ghost Stories’ is a great record. ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told’ is a good record. ‘Oh! Calcutta’ is a good record. For me, there’s a distinct difference between good bands and great bands – those that can continually irk out solid releases with the occasional flash of brilliance, and those who are consistently jaw-droppingly awesome. Now there’s no doubt The Lawrence Arms have the ability to be in the latter group, but for me they always seem to end up as one of those good bands, rather than a great one. This record, for me, sums up the point well. At times it is nothing short of sensational, a record that is hard-hitting and catchy, yet with an edge many bands lack. But on a few occasions the band let themselves down and I’m left feeling what might have been…
The record does start well though. Very well actually. ‘Cut It Up’ is insightful and aggressive and, dare I say it, quite Falcon-esque. Without deviating too much from the formula the ‘Arms have managed to carve out for themselves, there is still a noticeable shift towards the swaggering, ballsy punk rock TLA side-project The Falcon has so far produced. But there are still moments of Larry Arms genius, such as the drink-inspired ‘Beyond the Embarrassing Style’ and the excellent ‘Jumping The Shark’.
But for all the great moments I still think ‘Apathy…’ is better. Maybe this is a slow burner and a grower? Maybe I just didn’t get it quite as much? There are bigger Lawrence Arms fans that write for PT admittedly, but seeing as no-one else seems to be churning out reviews nowadays (not a bitch, more a fact!) I’ve had to review it. Don’t get me wrong, this is a good record, but it’s not quite as good as I thought it might be. That could be because the band have set themselves such high standards, but either way, this is good, but not the greatest story they’ve ever told…
www.thelawrencearms.net
Fat Wreck
paul