I Breathe the Underground

Punk in the City #2: The Broadways

Punk in the City is a biweekly feature introducing influential Chicago punk, hardcore, post-hardcore, pop-punk, indie, and rock bands that have had a big impact on my personal musical evolution (and the Chicago scene in general).

If you're a hardcore Lawrence Arms fan like me, you've probably heard of the group's predecessor, the illustrious, short-lived Broadways.

Think: Jawbreaker with a heavy socio-political lyrical stance, tighter, less predictable riffs, and that certain vocal and songwriting charm that only Brendan Kelly can bring to the table. These guys were fast and hard-hitting -- on par with TLA's A Guided Tour of Chicago. Their music embodied that exact Chicago working class penchant that has always been part of the tone for the city's punk rock scene. At times, the lyrics bordered on socialist tendencies (using "bordered on" loosely here), but they were always intelligent and artistic in their political implications.

The Broadways rose from the ashes of ska-punk outfit Slapstick and pop-punkers Tricky Dick, bringing together Brendan Kelly and Chris McCaughan (who would later form the Lawrence Arms). Interestingly enough, the Broadways played their final show at Record Breakers, an old mom-and-pop music store out in Hoffman Estates (in the waaaaaaaaaaay northwest suburbs) I used to frequent, which subsequently moved to the city and opened Reggie's Rock Club and Reggie's Music Joint. Score one for the burbs.

The Broadways only released one full-length album (Broken Star) and a collection of the rest of their recordings (Broken Van) on Asian Man Records, but what they lacked in longevity, they more than made up for in pure awesomeness. Much like their songs, the Broadways were a short, intense, and unpredictable burst into the Chicago music scene, but one I'm extremely grateful for.

As previously mentioned, Brendan and Chris went on to form the Lawrence Arms. Former Broadways members Dan Hanaway and Rob DePaola eventually formed the Honor System (a group that included Rise Against's Tim McIlrath for a short period of time -- yes, the Chicago scene is extremely incestuous). Keep your eyes open for a blog about the Honor System in the near future.

Check out a few songs from Broken Star below.

Download 01 15 Minutes

Download 08 We'll Have A Party

Download 10 I Hear Things Are Just As Bad Down In Lake Erie

"Let's go shopping today / drive our fancy cars to the fancy malls and for lunch we'll have big macs."
- The Broadways, "15 Minutes"

The Lawrence Arms Working on New 7" Series?

The Bouncing Souls and the Lawrence Arms have quite a few similarities. I'm not just talking about a stubborn adherence shared by fans to use the article "the" when stating their band names. There's something deeper, some sort of poppy instinct within the body of each band's work that shines through in a sonic onslaught on listener's ears.

You can't really hear the similarities between the two bands quite as clearly on their recordings, but I had an alcohol induced revelation at this past weekend's Riot Fest. TLA and TBS are perfect bed...err, stage-fellows...?

The House of Blues is really an extraordinary venue, but a surprising place for a punk show of this calibur. Simply put, the HOB is pretty well kept and clean in terms of Chicago venues, and the audience that attends Riot Fest is generally...not. So it wasn't exactly a surprise to see the pop-sensible punk rock fans had a dominating "one-up" status on the old school punkers.

When TBS took the stage, I was pretty excited for their set, as I'd seen them at Warped a few years before and absolutely loved them. Still, although I'm decently knowledgeable when it comes to TBS' repetoire of songs, I found myself fidgeting throughout the hour-plus set. I got mad love and respect for TBS, but one word I would not use to describe them is "versatile."

So what did I learn? There might be a few other bands I've only seen play at Warped Tour that I should avoid going to see in a regular concert setting.

When you get fidgety at a show, you turn to the bottle for support, which made at least half of the crowd a little jazzed for the Lawrence Arms by the time it was their turn to rock the HOB.

And then it was their turn.

As usual, Brendan Kelly kept the crowd laughing with his drunken antics, Neil Hennessy was a blur of hands and fingernails, and Chris McCaughan brought the ladies to their knees with his sexy pot-voice. They played songs from every album and even surprised the crowd with "Quicentuple Your Money," a fan favorite that doesn't get dragged off the shelf too often. The energy level was amazing and the crowd was slightly out of control.

Take it from a guy who has been to a lot of shows: the Lawrence Arms have some of the best fans in Chicago.

Oh, you were dragged in by the headline and you're waiting for the point, huh?

When my attention started waning during the Bouncing Souls set, I ran into Hennessy and chatted things music. Kelly's wife just had a baby, which has pushed plans for a new album off into the unforeseen future. So, from what I gathered, it appears talks with Fat Mike have developed the possibility of a 7" series, in the tradition of other Fat bands. Hennessy mentioned that, since the band members have been busy with other things, Fat Mike suggested that they record songs as they write them. Then, he'll release a few here and there as 7"s.

Hennessy didn't mention that there was anything specific in the works as of yet, but that it was an idea being bounced around. Let's hope something gets moving shortly, huh? I feel like I'm starved of new Lawrence Arms material.

"I never tried that / I never tried that / I never tried that / but I know I don't like it."
- Brendan Kelly, "The Devil's Takin' Names"