The Lawrence Arms

What makes the Lawrences an unusual punk band, aside from their conceptual albums and duet-style vocals, is their fierce hatred of the Warped Tour (and not because the group hasn’t been invited to it). The band played on the tour in 2002 and was kicked off for criticizing the tour while performing. Then bassist and singer Brendan Kelly ended the band’s most recent album, Oh! Calcutta!, with the hidden track, “Warped Summer Extravaganza (Super Excellent),” a country song with an obvious message. In addition to dissing the Warped Tour, Kelly has spoken out against the president, appearing on sites like punkvoter.com and on TV programs like The Daily Show. And, when Kelly is not griping, he and his band make some of the best punk rock available today. Sounding like a mellow alt-rock band when guitarist Chris McCaughan is singing, or like a turbulent, angry punk-rock band when Kelly is singing, all the while retaining catchy choruses and melodies, appears to be the band’s trademark. And on Oh! Calcutta! the two sing most songs together, merging their styles into something even more unique yet no less captivating.