It’s been a long eight years, but The Lawrence Arms‘ first album since 2006’s Oh, Calcutta! has finally arrived. The Chicago trio certainly sound older and wiser, determined but possibly a little haggard – see first single “You Are Here” with lines like “They won’t miss me when I’m gone” and “I’m the chorus to that lonely street.” This makes sense given, well, logic, but all Brendan Kelly’s take on the album.

Because of the way we exist as a band, it was important for us to wait until we knew we had something to say that was sharp and pointed and dynamic and incisive. And if we didn’t have that, then we’d just rather not make a record, ‘cause fuck it.

You could also watch the not-so-subtle video for “Seventeener (17th and 37th)” to see that. Shots fired.

For a fix of some classically-influenced punk, the album is streaming in its 12-track entirety over at the AV Club. The band also listed “late-’90s hip hop like Outkast’s Aquemini” as an influence, which is odd, yet timely. Those samples you’ll hear – horn, piano, and more – are actually street musicians the band had caught on their phones.

The album comes out on January 28 via Epitaph Records. Hit the jump for tour dates.

The Lawrence Arms tour dates:

Jan 28 Chicago, IL – Reckless Records / Wicker Park (Brendan Kelly acoustic performance)
Feb 14 Scottsdale, AZ – Pub Rock Live
Feb 15 San Diego, CA – Casbah
Feb 16 Los Angeles, CA – El Rey
Feb 17 San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill
Feb 18 San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill
Feb 20 Seattle, WA – El Corazon
Feb 21 Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theater
Feb 22 Denver, CO – Summit Music Hall
Mar 03 Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair
Mar 04 Pawtucket, RI – The Met
Mar 05 New York, NY – Gramercy Theatre
Mar 06 Philadelphia, PA – Theatre of the Living Arts
Mar 07 Asbury Park, NJ – Asbury Lanes
Mar 08 Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Soundstage

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Tyler Hanan

Tyler raves about movies on the Let The Right Films In podcast. Listen to him make jokes over his beleaguered cohost Kayla St. Onge and their more qualified guests who deserve so much better at soundcloud.com/ltrfipod. Find him on Twitter @tylerhanan.

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