Oh! Calcutta! (album)
| Oh! Calcutta! | ||||
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| Studio album by The Lawrence Arms | ||||
| Released | March 7, 2006 | |||
| Recorded | October–November 2005 | |||
| Genre | Punk rock | |||
| Length | 33:54 | |||
| Label | Fat Wreck Chords | |||
| Producer | Matt Allison & The Lawrence Arms | |||
| The Lawrence Arms chronology | ||||
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |
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| Punknews.org |
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| Stylus Magazine | ( B ) link |
Oh! Calcutta! is the fifth full-length album by the Chicago punk rock band The Lawrence Arms, released in 2006 by Fat Wreck Chords. It is the band's third studio album to be released on Fat Wreck Chords. In comparison with their previous album The Greatest Story Ever Told, Oh! Calcutta! is considerably faster-paced and more aggressive. It also finds Chris McCaughan and Brendan Kelly sharing vocal duties in an almost duet style, while on previous albums the two had split most of the lead vocals between songs. Brendan Kelly has stated that this is his favorite Lawrence Arms album.
The album's title demonstrates the band's propensity to juxtapose the twin elements of "legitimate" literature and philosophy and American pop culture, referencing both the 1969 off-Broadway revue of the same name and a comment made by Mother Teresa that conditions in Chicago's south side depressed her more than the poverty of Calcutta. The title of the song "Are You There Margaret? It's Me, God" references the book Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. by Judy Blume, while the title "Jumping the Shark" references a pop culture term describing an episode of Happy Days. "Requiem Revisited" borrows melodies from the Naked Raygun song, "Soldier's Requiem." The whispered lyrics in the beginning of it are taken from the Nomeansno song "Brother Rat." The title of "Lose Your Illusion 1" is a reference to the Guns 'n' Roses album Use Your Illusion I. The album contains a "hidden" track after the last song entitled "Warped Summer Extravaganza (Major Excellent)," a reference to the band's experiences on the Warped Tour. The downloadable iTunes version of the album also included an extra track entitled "The Rabbit and the Rooster" not found on the CD or LP versions.
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