The Lawrence Arms – Skeleton Coast

The Lawrence Arms – a band that was birthed too late in the 90’s to have benefited from the punk-rock magic that bestowed permanent career momentum on so many Epitaph and Fat Wreck bands (i.e. NOFX and Bad Religion), and wasn’t poppy enough to rise to fame in the early 00’s (i.e. New Found Glory and Yellowcard).  Yet, despite forever skirting around the fringe of the mainstream, the Chicago three-piece has always stuck to their guns and never compromised their values for a cheap buck.  

Co-frontmen Chris McCaughan and Brendan Kelly are a couple of the most curious songwriters in the business.  Each is so distinct, but once you get to know them together it’s hard to imagine them apart.  McCaughan is known for his clean pop-punk style while Kelly has a coarse, throaty approach.  The two represent vocalistic synergy at its best and are also known for their various solo side projects, typically supported by drummer Neil Hennessey.  While they’ve somewhat drifted apart and spent more time on side-projects, their paths always seem to converge.  That being said, their return has become less and less frequent, with the band only releasing two records over the past decade, making any news of a new Lawrence Arms album a reason for celebration.

Skeleton Coast marks their seventh career full length in just over twenty years as a band.  The trio tends to leave any wild stylistic divergences to their side projects (see Brendan Kelly and the Wandering Birds, The Falcon, and Sundowner), saving The Lawrence Arms as an ongoing celebration of where it all began.  The band has gone through several adjustments over the years, amping up Kelly’s contributions (Oh Calcutta!) and focusing on McCaughan’s soft tones (The Greatest Story Ever Told), with Skeleton Coast accumulating in a clear appreciation for one another’s strengths.  

While their previous album, Metropole, set the tone with Kelly’s coarseness, Skeleton Coast opens with McCaughan’s smooth melody.  “Quiet Storm” starts with a twenty second acoustic reflection, soon after accelerating into a quickening pace laid down by Hennessey’s steady, sweat dripping drum beats.  “There is no past, the future has been cast, now I’m free to live at last,” sings the band during a shared chorus, making for a highly introspective thinker on life, mortality, and everything in between.  “Dead Man’s Ghost” channels the same spectral ephemerality, weaving in image-rich verses like, “I read the last of my tea leaves, zodiac geography, nothing is what nothing seems,” against McCaughan’s minimalist delivery.  “Last, Last Words” and “Coyote Crown” return with a similar atmosphere and methodology, achieving a strong continuity of listening, while “Ghostwriter” serves as a particular highpoint, with harmonizing “oooo-oo-ooo” vocals that plant themselves in your head long after the track runs its course. For those of us that have always appreciated The Lawrence Arms for their existential expositions, McCaughan’s contributions will leave you searching your soul for meaning.

Meanwhile, Kelly has always been a little like the devil on your shoulder, balancing McCaughan’s crisp introspection with his rougher style and darker lyrics.  Early in the album, “PTA” and “Belly of the Whale” exemplify Kelly’s range.  From the former’s frayed sonic unravelling to the latter’s bumbling and bounding swagger, anything goes on Kelly’s watch.  Later in the album, “The Demon” feels particularly menacing, with Kelly’s coarse, repetitive call that “I am the demon” hypnotically worming its way into your mind like some sort of ungodly ritual. “Hot To Rot” makes a nod to Kelly’s Wandering Birds side project, briefly toying with heavy distortion and reverb during the late song bridge, and further proving that The Lawrence Arms continue to evolve even in the off season.  Like two sides of a beating heart, Kelly and McCaughan are both complementary and irreplaceable in their symbiosis.

Skeleton Coast is The Lawrence Arms as you remember them – predictable and spontaneous, all at once.  The Chicago trio has long since mastered their unmistakable brand, and their seventh studio album is no exception.  Over the years it has become increasingly clear: The Lawrence Arms are one of a kind, and the advent of new material is always exciting.  I suppose I should have held some reservation for the potential of being disappointed, but as Skeleton Coast confirms, there is no need: The Lawrence Arms have once again delivered on the goods.