Chicago's Lawrence Arms are a gritty but clever punk rock three-piece that trace their beginnings back to 1999. Their involvement in bands and the punk scene goes back many years prior however, as the members were involved in Windy City mainstays Slapstick, The Broadways, and Baxter. The band takes it's name from a run-down building the members resided in called the Lawrence Arms, which was located in a very lower-class area of uptown Chicago. For the record, they were eventually evicted from the place in the middle of the night.

After a couple releases on Asian Man Records, The Lawrence Arms chose to work with Fat Wreck Chords from among several interested labels and released Apathy and Exhaustion in early 2002.