Lawrence Arms.

THE LAWRENCE ARMS are a young Chicago three-piece that fuse punk and emo in a way that's not shameless, but refreshing. This brainy trio is a favorite among critics, and whether you're a brick-throwing punk rocker or collegiate bookworm, this is your new favorite band ... well, at least they're my favorite band. Which leads us to the interview at hand: I had the opportunity to sit down and discuss their new record and touring with Larry Arms bassist/vocalist Brendan, and it goes a little something like this ...

So you have a new record out, The Greatest Story Ever Told. And you had us all believing that it was concept record and was punk's answer to The Wall and shit. What would happen if you were to play your record while watching Wizard of Oz on acid?

Brendan: That's all been done before. This record is different. It's more like if you wake up, drink a 40 and put on Jerry Springer, the people on the show look beautiful. Or if you listen to it while reading along with Catcher in the Rye, you'll like, see it, man.

See it? See what, your sister in the shower? This is already sounding like a college lit class. Are you talking about the "inner layer?" Enlighten us ...

I really don't know how to respond to this. I don't even have a sister.

Well, lots of kids are saying this record is your best yet, and your hardcore followers seem to love it because it's reminiscent of one of your very early records: Ghost Stories. What do you think about the connection between that old favorite and the new shit?

Ghost Stories was an eclectic record and so is this one. They both have the word "story" in the title, which I just realized now. Also, they both have hidden tracks, except for Greatest Story, which doesn't. The two guys from Perfect Strangers, Mark Lynn-Baker and Bronson Pinchot, both sang on Greatest Story, though. Also, Ghost Stories was our second record, and this is our second record on Fat. Maybe there's some sort of second-record duality or something. I don't fucking know.

Could ya name five records that influenced The Greatest Story Ever Told? I mean, aside from the new Clay Aiken record, which is a given.

Let's see ... there's Skatemaster Tate, JFA, Kirk and the Jerks, the first Cannibal Corpse record, and Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin.

You've contributed a guest column to punkvoter.com and are going to contribute a song to the upcoming Rock Against Bush compilation. It seems like the greater punk scene is coming around and there's a real vibrant anti-Bush movement at this time. Anything you'd like to say about the movement or your involvement in it?

Well, it's really important for people to be upset at this regime. They are human rights violators, liars, and criminals. It's actually really sad to me how few people even care about what's going on, and I'm pretty glad that there's finally a mobilization going on in the punk scene. I'm involved only as far as raising awareness and trying to get young people to vote, so the Bush/Cheney ticket is defecated in '04. There are lots of ways to get involved, and it's important for everyone to help in whatever way they can, even if it's just registering to vote and voting. The reason that the government felt comfortable installing an un-elected president into office in 2000 was because the voter turnout was so low, they knew that the public was so apathetic towards politics that they could get away with whatever they wanted to. Everyone needs to let their voice be heard. It's irresponsible not to.

What do you think is a worse trend: Red Bull and vodka or three-piece punk rock bands?

Red Bull and vodka tends to turn three-piece punk bands into drunken douchebags who should have gone home and gone to bed hours ago.