Fat Wreck Chords
2006
Oh! Calcutta!
About This Album
Oh! Calcutta! is the fifth studio album from some of Chicago's finest punk rockers, the Lawrence Arms. Always ones for consistency, the album falls easily into the ranks of other releases from the raucous trio; it's a blazing dose of gritty, energetic punk rock with enough attitude to spare through Chris and Brendan's trademark duel vocal assault, which actually trades off more within each song this time than each having their own tracks. Brash, desperate emotion spills over each song with the raw air of being on the verge of breakdown, but it's that same passion that manages to hold everything together seamlessly song after song. Though the album mostly contains these frenzied up-and-down rockers, each incendiary song distinguishes itself through rousing choruses and empowered lyrics that speak of leaving the past -- whether good or bad -- behind. The stylish "The Devil's Takin' Names" contains sweetly pathetic lines like "You've got those moves and those eyes/I've got these shakes and bad breath." And though one might cringe at the opening Dead or Alive-esque sentiments of "Like a Record Player" ("I'm like a record player/I keep going round"), the song soon launches into a sentimental ode to friendship and the road.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4 and 8)

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