For Your Lungs Only is the debut EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 by the Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

-based punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 band Alkaline Trio

Alkaline Trio

Alkaline Trio is an American punk rock band that formed in McHenry, Illinois, in 1996. The band's line-up consists of Matt Skiba , Dan Andriano , and Derek Grant...

, released May 26, 1998 through Asian Man Records

Asian Man Records

Asian Man Records is a small, DIY record label run by Mike Park in Monte Sereno, California. Park started a record label and began releasing music in 1989 under the name Dill Records, with the Asian Man label established May 1996.-Artists:...

. The song "Southern Rock" was re-recorded for their debut album Goddamnit

Goddamnit

Goddamnit is the debut album by the Chicago-based punk rock band Alkaline Trio, released October 13, 1998 through Asian Man Records.- Reception :...

later that year. All four tracks from the EP were reissued on the compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 Alkaline Trio

Alkaline Trio (album)

Alkaline Trio is a compilation album by the Chicago-based punk rock band Alkaline Trio, released April 18, 2000 through Asian Man Records. It includes all of the tracks from their EPs For Your Lungs Only and I Lied My Face Off , as well as both tracks from the "Sundials" single and several tracks...

in 2000.

Reception

Mike DaRonco of Allmusic commented that the EP "[brings] out more of the grimmer perspectives on lost love. Not that all three members are diagnosed manic depressives — they just have a more honest approach to relating to all those who just got dumped. For Your Lungs Only captures these moments perfectly without crossing into the territory of feeling sorry for themselves". He also noted the influence of the Descendents

Descendents (band)

The Descendents are an American punk rock band from Hermosa Beach, California. As of 2011, they have released six studio albums, three live albums, three compilation albums and three EPs. The Descendents broke up and reformed several times over the years, sometimes with different musicians...

, Jawbreaker

Jawbreaker (band)

Jawbreaker was an American punk rock band active from 1986 to 1996 and considered one of the most influential acts of the early-1990s emo movement...

, Crimpshrine

Crimpshrine

Crimpshrine was an American punk rock band from Berkeley, California. The group was formed in 1982 by Aaron Cometbus, founder of the seminal punk rock zine Cometbus, and a friend, Jeff Ott. Within D.I.Y...

, and They Might Be Giants

They Might Be Giants

They Might Be Giants is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years Flansburgh and Linnell were frequently accompanied by a drum machine. In the early 1990s, TMBG became a full band. Currently, the members of TMBG are...

 on the EP.

Track listing

Personnel

• Matt Skiba
  Matt Skiba
  Matthew Thomas Skiba is the lead singer and guitarist of Alkaline Trio.-Early life and family:...
  
   – guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  , vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  
• Dan Andriano
  Dan Andriano
  Daniel Michael Andriano is the bassist and co-vocalist of the punk rock band Alkaline Trio.-Education and early bands:...
  
   – bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  , vocals
• Glenn Porter
  Glenn Porter
  Glenn Porter is an American drummer from Chicago, Illinois most famous for forming Alkaline Trio with fellow bike messenger Matt Skiba and Rob Doran, which he later left in 2000 after recording two albums with them. He is also a former 88 Fingers Louie member...
  
   – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....