The Lawrence Arms/The Copyrights/Sam Russo

Chicago punk rockers the Lawrence Arms recently issued Metropole, their first album in eight years. It makes you wonder what they have been up to in all that time and how much pressure they felt to put out new music. In an interview with Noisey, lead singer and bass player, Brendan Kelly said, “It’s interesting because I never felt like there was a ton of pressure. It was more like the idea was that I’m not gonna put out another record — and I know Chris feels the same way — unless it was cool.” The new album definitely reflects the fact that they’ve been away for so long because it’s very much a departure from some of their earlier records and it shows their newfound spirit and energy. This new energy may also be a result of signing to a new label, Epitaph Records. The band has been touring since 1999 and has collected a pretty consistent amount of fans over the years. The show will be sure to have a good mix of fast-paced punk rock and some of Metropole’s lighter pop-rock. (Lizzie Manno)