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

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

punk rock 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 i ...

, released in 2002 by

Fat Wreck Chords Fat Wreck Chords (pronounced "Fat Records") is a San Francisco, California-based independent record label, focused on punk rock. It was started by NOFX lead singer Michael Burkett (better known as Fat Mike) in 1990. The label has released mater ...

. 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 is the bassist and lead vocalist for the punk rock band NOFX and the bassist for the punk rock supergroup cover band Me F ...

, 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 of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

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 early 20th century for his involvement in the Leopold and Loeb murder trial and the Scopes "Monkey" Trial. He was a leading member of t ...

, the lawyer and

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

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 wealthy 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 an unincorporated area and Municipal District in Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 Census the population was 135,272. Lehigh Acres is part of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Leh ...

, a community in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

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

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

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 producer ...

. *

Weehawken Weehawken is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located largely on the Hudson Palisades overlooking the Hudson River. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 17,197.

, a

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

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 unsigned New Y ...

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 Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795. Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...

and

Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805. Burr's legacy is defined by his famous personal conflict with Alexand ...

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 fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, vocals * Brendan Kelly - bass, vocals * Neil Hennessy -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Album information

* Record label:

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

Andersonville, Chicago Edgewater is a lakefront Community areas of Chicago, community area on the North Side of the city of Chicago, Illinois six miles north of the Chicago Loop, Loop. The last of the city's 77 official community areas, Edgewater is bounded by Foster A ...

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