Though the Lawrence Arms are known for releasing wonderful cds, I think this is the first year there cd takes the cake. It is without a doubt the best thing I have heard all year.

The Lawrence Arms have put two cds on Asian Man Records, both of which are very good. They also have a mediocre split cd with Shady View Terrance. Their other cd has some of their best material ever written like "100 Resoltions" and "Quintuplce Your Money". Oh and it has some shit by the Chinkees on it.

Along their musical jounrey. The band got signed to Fat along with their friends Dillinger Four. They released their cd "Apathy and Exhaustion" in feb. and it is one of the great theme orientated cds. It has a lot to do with negative thinking, but still it provides a positive outlook. Don't be thrownoff by the cover with the dismembered boy, he is merely full of apathy and exhaustion.

1. Porno and Snuff Films - If this cd were to have a single this would be it. It has a fast tempo, and great lyrics. Good song, but nothing to memorable.

2. First Eviction Notice - One of the top songs on this cd. It has a lot to do with how we end to 2nd guess ourselves and how we get nervous when were confronted from relationship topics.

3. Navigating the Windward Passage - Not my cup of tea, the only real mediocre song on the cd. Its fast, but it has little substance. It is not a filler track though. Maybe it's just my personal taste though, because I know a number of people who love this song.

4. Your Gravest Words - The slowest song on the cd, but not the worse by any means. This song got me into the whole cd. It has to do with two people who can't connect. Even though he is scarred he takes a chance, reaches out, and is no longer alone.

5. Boatless Booze cruise part 1 - This song is really spectacular. It seems to me to be about a guy who drinks a lot. But then comes to his friend in need, and finds comfort on his floor. One reference on here that keeps sticking out is being jackknifed. Maybe it has to do with a situtation that changed his viewpoint on his drinking habits.

6. Brickwall Views - This song does little musically, but its amazing lyrically. This song is very personal to the band. It has to do with how the city has changed, and how time is pasting for them. Then the song changes from his feelings about Chicago to his feelings about himself. He sees himself as a bitter and exhausted individual, compared to his old self. As he says "all we see is a faded image of what we used to be". Great Song.

7. Corpses of Our Motivations - This is my favorite song and it has very descriptive lyrics. It is about drinking too much. There is a vivid picture of how a life can be ruined by drinking. It is well portrayed when he talks about the "yellow growing grass", but is best inferred when it is sung softly at the end of the song.

8. I'll Take Whats In the Box Monty - Like many of the songs by the Lawrence Arms this one tells a story that is not complete, but the last verse puts it all in perspective. So, this song is about a guy who is attached to a woman, his attachment is dragging the life out of her. So he understands if she wants to leave.

9. Right as Rain part 2 - This song is linked to track 5. This part of the 2 part song is about how he is tired of being sad and apathetic. Then he reaches a moment of happiness with "one salty kiss", which is "right as rain".

10. 3am QVC Shopping Spree Hangover - This song is amazing, it has a normal pace, but then gets real fast toward the end. It is really about him dying as a person, and leaving his old self behind. He pissed on his corpse, and then left it, to have his newer self.

11. Abracadaver - What an amazing way to end the song. I have heard several intretations of this song, but overall it seems to be about a guy who breaks a relationship with a girl, because he doesn'r want to hurt her emotionally somehow.

In conclusion, this cd is just brillant. It has a lot of great metaphors - vampire fangs, smokestacks, pissing on corpses, faulty satelites and clouds as mirrors. It covers topics like broken mixed up relationships, alchoholism, and boredom. One can think this album has to do with the journey of the songwriter. While it may not be as good as Modest Mouse, it deserves a place one everyone's cd rack.