''Apathy and Exhaustion'' is the third album by the

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band

The Lawrence Arms The Lawrence Arms are an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. They have released seven full-length albums and toured extensively. Band history Pre-history Prior to forming the Lawrence Arms, the three band members were active ...

, released in 2002 by

Fat Wreck Chords Fat Wreck Chords (pronounced "Fat Records") is an independent record label based in San Francisco focused on punk rock. It was started by NOFX lead singer Michael Burkett (better known as Fat Mike) and his wife at the time, Erin Burkett in 1990. ...

. It was the band's first album to be released on that label, and with this release, the band formed a close relationship with the label and its founder

Fat Mike Michael John Burkett (born January 16, 1967), known professionally as Fat Mike, is an American musician and producer. He was the bassist and lead vocalist for the punk rock band NOFX and the cofounder and bassist of the punk rock supergroup cov ...

, with whom they released their next two albums. It was also their first full-length album recorded with producer Matt Allison, with whom they would go on to record all of their subsequent material. ''Apathy and Exhaustion'' shows the band experimenting with verse/chorus structures, and infectious pop melodies. Fat Mike included this album on a list of the 25 best albums released on Fat Wreck Chords. An independent

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was filmed for the song "Porno and Snuff Films."

Pseudonyms

In the album's liner notes, the band members identify themselves under the false names Clarence Darrow, Lehigh Acres, and Weekawken Hennessy. These names correspond to several historical figures and locations: *

Clarence Darrow Clarence Seward Darrow (; April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) was an American lawyer who became famous in the 19th century for high-profile representations of trade union causes, and in the 20th century for several criminal matters, including the ...

, the lawyer and

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. ...

leader who defended

Leopold and Loeb Nathan Freudenthal Leopold Jr. (November 19, 1904 – August 29, 1971) and Richard Albert Loeb (; June 11, 1905 – January 28, 1936), usually referred to collectively as Leopold and Loeb, were two American students at the University of Chicago ...

in their murder trial in 1924 and

John T. Scopes John Thomas Scopes (August 3, 1900 – October 21, 1970) was a teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, who was charged on May 5, 1925, with violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which prohibited the teaching of human evolution in Tennessee schools. He was trie ...

in the famous "Monkey" Trial of 1925. *

Lehigh Acres Lehigh Acres is a census-designated place (CDP) in Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 Census the population was 114,287, up from 86,784 at the 2010 census. Lehigh Acres is part of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida Metropolitan ...

, a community in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

that was started as a tax shelter in the mid-1950s by

businessman

Lee Ratner Leonard Lee Ratner was an American businessman who built his fortune through mail order sales, particularly as the founder of d-CON rat poison company, before moving into real estate investment. He was the biological grandfather of film produ ...

. *

Weehawken Weehawken is a Township (New Jersey), township in the North Hudson, New Jersey, northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located on the Hudson Waterfront and Hudson Palisades overlooking ...

, a

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

at the western end of the

Lincoln Tunnel The Lincoln Tunnel is an approximately tunnel under the Hudson River, connecting Weehawken, New Jersey, to the west with Midtown Manhattan in New York City to the east. It carries New Jersey Route 495 on the New Jersey side and the unsigned N ...

that was the site of the famous duel between

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...

and

Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician, businessman, lawyer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805 d ...

in 1804.

Track listing

# "Porno and Snuff Films" - 2:33 # "The First Eviction Notice" - 2:39 # "Navigating the Windward Passage" - 3:23 # "Your Gravest Words" - 4:19 # "Boatless Booze Cruise Part 1" - 3:27 # "Brick Wall Views" - 4:12 # "The Corpses of Our Motivations" - 3:18 # ""I'll Take What's in the Box, Monty"" - 3:59 # "Right as Rain Part 2" - 2:37 # "3am QVC Shopping Spree Hangover" - 2:30 # "Abracadaver" - 2:41

Performers

* Chris McCaughan -

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, vocals * Brendan Kelly -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, vocals *

Neil Hennessy Neil Kevin Hennessy (born December 12, 1978) is a punk rock musician, music producer and engineer from Chicago, Illinois. Hennessy currently plays in The Lawrence Arms, Colossal (band), Colossal, The Falcon (band), The Falcon, Smoking Popes, The ...

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Album information

* Record label:

* Recorded, mixed and produced September–October 2001 at Atlas Studios in

Andersonville, Chicago Edgewater is a lakefront community area on the North Side of the city of Chicago, Illinois, six miles north of the Loop. The most recently established of the city's 77 official community areas, Edgewater is bounded by Foster Avenue on the sou ...

by Matt Allison * Paintings and sketches by Josh Marshall * Type design and layout by David Holtz * Additional art and layout by the Lawrence Arms and Kate McCaughan

References

2002 albums Fat Wreck Chords albums The Lawrence Arms albums Albums produced by Matt Allison (record producer) {{2000s-punk-album-stub