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Skeleton Coast

by The Lawrence Arms

supported by
Shaughn Martel
Shaughn Martel thumbnail
Shaughn Martel Coming back to punk rock after spending a lot of time away listening to other things made this extremely hard hitting and fresh. McCaughan's poetic lyricsm in Sundowner shines through in this release. Somehow Metropole didn't hit me like most, but I can see how "You Are Here" was a precursor to one of my favorite records to come. Favorite track: Dead Man's Coat.
PaintedDogs
PaintedDogs thumbnail
PaintedDogs Sure, it's no Oh Calcutta, but who cares? Making something this good after decades of writing is a feat in its own right. That, plus, Coyote Crown probably -is- the best TLA closing track of them all, or at least it's my favorite. Not biased or anything. Now fingers are crossed for some new Falcon or Sundowner tracks. Favorite track: Coyote Crown.
fotkerlemm
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fotkerlemm Not their best release. But I'm addicted to TLA. So what.
co_fragment
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co_fragment Twenty years on, they confirm they're still my favourite band with this record.
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1.
Quiet Storm 02:07
There is no past There is no future Now I'm free to live, at last No more courage at my fingertips Sit and wait for the nothingness All aboard, your fate is departing Last train ever, it's now or never Rain of fireworks above the lake Familiar skies of a native place Revel in the summer aftertaste My final act was to disintegrate There is no past The future has been cast Now I'm free to live, at last Search for truth in a coffee cup But inspiration is an idle drug A quiet storm is raging in my mind Hurricane of my own design I crackled like a radio wave Remote status in a western state Listen closely: Some horsemen are calling Lay back, the night sky is falling
2.
PTA 01:54
Don't worry baby, it's nigh. The end of our time, the brush on your thigh. The feeling of toiling and loving only to watch it all die. I'm a long time in coming along for one hell of a ride. We took planes. We took trains. We took automobiles. And it was still just me looking at you when we stopped spinning the wheels. Dusty and lonesome and craving a glance that starts in your heart then shoots into your pants. So, what did we do about it? The same thing that everyone does Cancel the contract you had with your soul And cut out the love Cuz if you're fighting yourself, Then no one is fighting for you Baby, that's how I like it. I wanna be down there with you. We took planes. We took trains. We took automobiles. And it was still just me looking at you When we stopped spinning the wheels. Dusty and lonesome and craving a glance Remember? We used to hold hands. Now, I just go out alone when I need to dance.
3.
If I wasn't just' one kid standing on another kid's shoulders in a trench coat you'd be in trouble buddy. If I was an innertube rolling down the quad city river in the Summer I'd be hauling something tubby. To the coast where the bones peek up like the ship ribs, I played hide and seek with the bleach-boned kids. They asked who I was and so I ran and hid. In the belly of the whale with a candle and a pen And it's my lucky day when the tide rolls in New ribcages of the dead young men Mandibles and bows and sterns Captains that it seems ain't never gonna learn I gotta go back I don't care if it was killing me I gotta go back you're unbearable like this I gotta go back cuz goddamnit, you're right I didn't wanna wake up in this place tonight Now all I hear is bitching and moaning Fools barely keeping up with where they're come-and-going This tired argument is the only one you've ever known I'm gonna get going my path is a-showin It's a long way home
4.
Woke up in foreign skin on a frozen continent I am a stranger in a dead man's coat Do you remember when we chased down our ghosts and then... exposed their faces to the world? No form, no color I was dead in the water When they blew my cover I dreamed of sons and daughters I drank expired dreams, static on hotel TVs The toxic air of our anxiety Read the last of my tea leaves, zodiac geography Nothing is what nothing seems Change is all we have Unknown road ahead Wrapped in a dead man's coat The future slips through my hands No form, no color I was dead in the water
5.
You are the pigeon, I am the spy All we have in common is that we're both high Watching the bald spots and bonnets Walk by down below You are the dinosaur, I am the ground That shook to knock all you mo'fuckers out All we have in common is one brutal sound Watching Pteranodons falling all around I'm tired, you're tired, too I wanna make some big changes, But I'm not in the mood I'm dying, you're dying, too All we've got in common is I'm out here killing for two You are the bombers, I am the moms Not sure where the next tragedy falls All we have in common is that when they die We both feel it inside You are the locker room, I am the queer Keenly aware you don't like that I'm here All we have in common is that we hate me All we have in common is that we'll both be Angry and old and some day we'll die Someday we'll start drinking at 8:45 Take me to the bathroom when I start to cry Cover my mouth and then cover my eyes Cover my soul, girl, it's already died I never had nothing inside In this case, I am the me and you are the you All we have in common is we're out here Sweating out booze
6.
Dead sleep, flash of lightning in our heads Out to sea, no way we're ever coming back These are my last, last words No one will ever read Nameless stars fall down on me Traffic builds, rush hour in my blood Everyone's a phony, it's a bullshit game that I have lost But I'm a lucky son, alive with bated breath Tick box forty-one in a hunters cap Hang me in the halls of obscurity Behind the velvet ropes in a distant gallery Save a place for me When all is said and done Dressed to kill for oblivion
7.
(The) Demon 01:53
I can't justify any of this I am lonely and collared and pissed I am a rat in a cage I am a demon filled up With hubris and bullshit and shame I am drunk I am ugly I am worse than you think that I am You could be my savior baby, but baby, I don't give a damn I am the dying, I am the plague I am the sum of this mess I have made I am the garbage can, I am the trash I am this cautionary tale you can have I came into this shit all alone I'll rock that same program when it's time to go I am the demon I am the hell Get the fuck out of here, fend for yourself But know... I am the demon
8.
Ghostwriter 02:40
I drove the highways of a skeleton coast Salt and sea, tapped mysteries into the keys I wrote an opus of distorted truths A symphony to crashing waves of victory I am a ghostwriter Pretend I am forever young I bleed every ribbon dry Waiting for my day to come Tamerlane, my poor soul in a last refrain An endless storm rattles on my windowpane Creaking floors, lost voices of a thousand wars The fire roars How long can we sing the same old tired songs? How long can we tread water? The shore is only getting smaller
9.
How To Rot 01:45
Theoretically, Fidel was right, boy, You are not a resistor He pumps regular, but leads with his right And you are not a resistor I don't care about love or games I'm burning entropic social thread flames You are not... This hell is already so hot The bodies have lined up to rot You'll never be revolution, revolution don't give a fuck Kill the cancer Install another cancer that you think is good enough So look at the sails, The mightiest vessel is no match for the whales And still we push on to the Leviathan song And still we sing You think it be R but it be the C And Brandy, you're a fine girl What a good wife you would be. I am not.... I am not nearly as good as the shit that I got I'll walk backwards straight into hell And show you fucks all how to rot
10.
Under Paris 02:52
I lost you in the smoke The world choked on fire I wrote your name On every crumbling city wall I traced my life in crude designs I dreamed of you one million times Tallied the days against my skin Watch it burn Disappear, There's nothing left for me here Changed my name I cut my hair We are wolves Chase the same light of the moon Distance is the hours between I'm losing time to every beat Anything is possible, but not for us Fate is a like a metronome A perfect strike– eternal drone One degree of separation, Plus three to annihilation I'll be singing your name to a broken melody, under Paris
11.
All you fucking goblins had better watch out Once I calm down a bit it's over for you All the kids in cages are starting to shout But nothing is shocking when nothing is new I dream of the days in the hell that we paved Picking fire like flowers on the path that we made Burnt fingertips and the heat of your thighs Rolling in hell sweating out the night You look like an angel covered in blood I sound like a dipshit 90's emocore thug But I'll do anything to be what you wanna see Wild dogs and orange and snow and disease We can never get out we can never go back So it's a good thing that I don't want that Someday, I'll be funny again Today I don't just want to be friends
12.
Lose Control 02:53
Dear blackhole, will you read this? I lost control at the wheel I watched the oceans drown every city From my penthouse suite, I leave the TV on The sound of the chatter keeps me from getting lonely All the kids are gone I've been swimming in a pool of money I'm rich like a dead king, they say My name rings out on those pathetic streets A hollow sound, a dead wind on the edge of town I'll make them love me Or I'll buy and sell their sorry souls The oil is beautiful - it's flowing I don't feel empty anymore I live in cold blood, in a house with a thousand doors When the boiler growls, a hundred tigers keep me warm I'll live forever, charge days to my credit card I own the future, and I own what's left of yours Dear blackhole, can you hear me? We lost control at the wheel
13.
This is a failed attempt. Words crashing, bartenders and wimps Gimping to bass-addled tunes The runes say that I'm doomed And I hope you are, too The lonely descent won't be nothing If you wrap your bones in mine There's nothing to fear in this darkness If I've got your light by my side The river ain't too hard to cross And I befriended the dogs And I made it into the inferno just fine I'm not trying to slow down the time Don't look at me, baby Look out at that shitty oceanside, maybe There is nothing that could turn me off of you, but I've got this date with the devil and you're coming, too Just find a wrapping to cover my corpse, maybe My life, my love and my lady is the sea Don't look at me
14.
Coyote Crown 03:34
Disappear in fog and rain Abandoned words of yesterday Arrested syntax of my youth Cassettes were piled high on coffee table dreams of mine I found my way here on a crooked line Regrets - just cracks in my ribs Paint your sunlight on my bones Rewind. I was the hero of another time Now, who am I? The writer of the storyline? Walked the scars of history for firewood and gasoline Erased my footprints in the moonlight I sang a coyote song I watched the fire burn higher and higher I wear a coyote crown I watch this world burn down

credits

released July 17, 2020

Neil Hennessy - Drums
Chris McCaughan - Guitar
Brendan Kelly - bass

All songs written by The Lawrence Arms

Skeleton Coast was recorded January/February 2020 at Sonic Ranch on the Texas/Mexico border
Produced and Engineered by Matt “We doin’ pseudonyms on this record? No nicknames for me, please” Allison
Assisted by Mauro Castro and David Carreon

Cover painted by Jeremy Bruneel
Designed by David Holtz
Photos by Ben Pier

THANK YOU
Brett, Matt, all at Epitaph, Mike, Erin, all at Fat, Mike Park, Tobias Jeg, Dan Tinkler, Corrie Christopher, Jess Bumstead, Matt Marti, Tony Rancich, Felipe, Mario and all at Sonic Ranch, Richard Bussey and Matthew Farrar and all at Fender, Kody, Sean Poole, Ron DiCola, Jeff, all y’all. Thanks for listening. XOXOX

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