The Lawrence Arms have been around and kicking copious amounts of ass for nearly 20 years now. While TLA themselves have only put out six full-length albums in that time, they’ve supplemented their output with copious amounts of singles, EPs, splits, a concert DVD and a compilation album — not to mention the albums put out by side projects Sundowner, the Falcon, Brendan Kelly and the Wandering Birds, and more.
The reach of the Lawrence Arms is wide, and on March 30, Fat Wreck Chords will release the band’s second compilation album, We Are the Champions Of The World, which will be accompanied by a much-needed (as fans can attest) United States tour in April and May. You can check out those announced tour dates here.
We Are the Champions Of The World is a massive 29-track release that serves as a “best of” for the band (which still doesn’t get the credit they deserve for continuing to push punk rock forward over the years), and pulls from releases throughout their entire career, including their albums on Asian Man and Epitaph, as well as Fat.
In addition — and perhaps most importantly for TLA fans — the album will feature five unreleased tracks, all taken from the Oh! Calcutta recording sessions back in 2006. Oh! Calcutta! is widely considered to be the band’s crowning achievement, and you better believe there are some punk rock fans who will be eager to hear tracks from that era that have been in the vault for over a decade.
Luckily, we’re getting a chance to premiere one of those tracks here. Please enjoy “Black Snow.”
Compilation and best-of albums can sometimes be a drag, but I have a feeling most Lawrence Arms fans will be checking this one out, for the unreleased tracks if nothing else. And it’s never a bad time to have someone put a TLA mixtape together for you. Never a bad time.
