Fat Wreck Chords – Release Date: 3/30/18
The Lawrence Arms (TLA) need no introduction. Rather, I’d like to emphasize that the band has evolved with an impressive consistency since 1999; including writing and musicianship, down to its primary engineer through the years: Matt Allison of Atlas Studios. A steady captain behind the scenes gives the recording quality and process a consistency of its own. The trio comprised of bassist/vocalist Brendan Kelly, guitarist/vocalist Chris McCaughan and drummer Neil Hennessy hand-picked 29 songs to showcase on its new best-of collection titled, We Are the Champions of the World.
Of the 29 tracks, 24 were culled from the band’s prolific discography – an evenly distributed retrospective spread, providing existing fans with the ultimate TLA mixtape, while simultaneously creating a perfect pool of songs for those just jumping in. The biggest perk of this release are the five previously unreleased tracks featured on this collection, all taken from the 2006 Oh! Calcutta! sessions, recorded at Atlas Studios in Chicago.
The tracks were scrapped because they “just didn’t fit in the structure of that album, which ended up being very focused and thematic,” Kelly said. “I hadn’t heard these songs in over 10 years,” McCaughan said. “I’d basically forgotten they existed at all, so listening back to a few of them was initially like stepping into some strange portal.”
“The Rabbit and the Rooster” was featured as an iTunes bonus track to O!C! It’s an anthemic, triumphant song that almost-comically borrows its bridge from Cher’s “If I Could Turn Back Time.” It’s an unapologetically upbeat tune about living for today, with plenty of nods to drinking and paying no mind to regret.
“Catalog” is short and fast, over before the 1:30 mark. Kelly and McCaughan trade vocal duties on this one. Interestingly, this was the first song Kelly wrote for the O!C! sessions. For a demo, the quality is superb.
McCaughan’s “Black Snow” is perhaps the most dynamic of the unreleased tracks. Backing vocals were never added, and it was abandoned about halfway through its completion. It captures much of what McCaughan felt in 2005 in Chicago. Thematically and sonically, it’s restless and echoes a Holden Caulfield-esque perspective. “I need a better way, another day, a different time/This liquor sheen smiles in my eyes/I’m searching for an anchor in this empty night/Walking home on the same street/it never used to look like this/the skeletons are secretly living in all these condominiums.”
“Laugh Out Loud” was another one of the earlier songs written for the O!C! sessions by McCaughan and exists now only as a demo. “It’s so easy to be jaded,” he sings. “Warped Summer Extravaganza (Turbo Excellent)” is a much faster take of the song that made the cut on O!C! This perhaps is the fastest song TLA has in its catalog, and it’s a perfectly succinct track to end the retrospective on, bringing it full circle in a way.
– Jason Duarte
