Members of the Lawrence Arms have also played in The Broadways, Slapstick, Tricky Dick and Baxter.
The three musicians came together to form the Lawrence Arms in 1999. Although punk rock bands in their infancy generally start out by releasing EPs 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 EPs 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.
The band's records and touring schedule had brought them to the attention of Fat Mike of NOFX, who signed them to his label Fat Wreck Chords 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 first music video, for the song porno and snuff films and they toured extensively with NOFX and other bands from the label.
Their next album was 2003's the greatest story ever told. Arguably 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, Volume 2 compilation, leading up to the 2004 presidential election and became involved with the Punk Voter campaign.
In December of 2004 Kelly and Hennessy joined with fellow Chicago natives Dan Andriano of Alkaline Trio (who had played with Kelly in Slapstick) and Todd Mohney, formerly of Rise Against, to form The Falcon, and released an EP on Red Scare. 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 of 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 of 2005 and recorded the album oh! calcutta!, which was released on Fat Wreck Chords in March of 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.
The Lawrence Arms spent most of 2006 touring extensively alongside bands such as NOFX, Alkaline Trio, The Draft, Lagwagon, and A Wilhelm Scream. The full-length debut by the Falcon was released that fall on Red Scare. In December, the Lawrence Arms embarked on their first headlining tour of Australia, also playing supporting shows with Frenzal Rhomb.
In March of 2007, guitarist Chris McCaughan released the debut album from his acoustic side project Sundowner, entitled four one five two.
The band toured again in 2007, with their side projects The Falcon and Sundowner as openers along with the recently reunited American Steel.
The 2010s saw minimal studio activity by the band, but for one album. 2014's Metropole was received well, and marked the band's first full-length in eight years. The band took another extended break in between albums again, taking six years before releasing their seventh album Skeleton Coast in 2020.
Beyond the Embarrassing Style
The Lawrence Arms Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The powder glowing in your smile
And is it hard to die a fraction at a time?
Is it just too hard to say goodbye?
Your life spins like a carousel
Your hopes are buried in a wishing well
Awake in a grave that you dug yourself
I can see the sadness in his face
Deep behind his lacquered eyes
A real devastation quaking in his jawline
The demon always comes alive
Your life spins like a carousel
Your hopes are buried in a wishing well
Awake in a grave that you dug yourself
Just keep on betting on that horse you love
Do you ever see the light of day?
Did you ever think that you would live this way?
Is it just so hard to sleep at night?
Is it just too hard for you to say goodbye?
And when the sun goes down
You'd better paint the town
Just keep riding now
Your horse will never touch the ground
Your life spins like a carousel
Your hopes are buried in a wishing well
Dead or alive, it's just so hard to tell
It looks like you've already found your hell
You've found your hell
The lyrics in "Beyond the Embarrassing Style" by The Lawrence Arms paint a haunting portrait of a person spiraling out of control due to substance abuse. The opening lines ask if it's hard for this person to sleep at night, as their drug addiction is forefront in their mind ("the powder glowing in your smile"). The next lines ask if it's hard to die slowly from the addiction, suggesting the pain and destruction that comes with it.
The chorus repeats the phrase "Your life spins like a carousel," invoking a sense of being stuck in a cycle of addiction and despair. The imagery of hopes being buried in a wishing well highlights the sense of hopelessness this person feels, even as they continue to rely on their addiction ("just keep on betting on that horse you love"). The second verse describes the person's appearance, pointing out the sadness and devastation that they're trying to mask with their lacquered eyes and gambling habits.
The final lines of the song suggest that this person has already found their own personal hell, and there's a sense of finality to the lyrics. Despite the dark subject matter, the music has an uplifting quality that gives the impression that there might be hope for this person to find a way out of their addiction.
Line by Line Meaning
Is it hard for you to sleep at night?
Do you struggle to find rest in the evenings?
The powder glowing in your smile
You have a drug addiction that is visible on your face.
And is it hard to die a fraction at a time?
Is the slow death of addiction too difficult to manage?
Is it just too hard to say goodbye?
Are you unable to leave your addiction behind?
Your life spins like a carousel
Your life is out of control and constantly repeating.
Your hopes are buried in a wishing well
Your dreams and aspirations are buried and forgotten.
Awake in a grave that you dug yourself
You are alive, but your life has become a living tomb.
Just keep on betting on that horse you love
You keep following your addiction despite the negative consequences.
I can see the sadness in his face
Your addiction has taken a toll on your emotional state.
Deep behind his lacquered eyes
Your addiction has affected your physical appearance.
A real devastation quaking in his jawline
Your addiction has caused real destruction in your life.
The demon always comes alive
Your addiction is like a demon that always reemerges.
Do you ever see the light of day?
Do you ever experience moments of clarity?
Did you ever think that you would live this way?
Did you ever imagine your life would be consumed by addiction?
And when the sun goes down
At nightfall,
You'd better paint the town
You better go out and party.
Just keep riding now
Keep doing what you're doing.
Your horse will never touch the ground
Your addiction will never let you fully come back down to reality.
Dead or alive, it's just so hard to tell
Your addiction has taken over to the point where you may not even feel alive.
It looks like you've already found your hell
Your addiction has become your own personal hell.
Contributed by Audrey R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.