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Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Living with the Living | Touch & Go
By
LEON NEYFAKH
|
May 1, 2007
TED LEO, LIVING WITH THE LIVING
" alt="photo of 'TED LEO, LIVING WITH THE LIVING'">
2.0
Stars
Ted Leo is dad-like, his tenderness enthusiastic but ultimately more of a spectacle than the infectious ball of fire it’s supposed to be. Especially here, on his fifth album with his band the Pharmacists, Leo’s positivity comes off a bit synthetic. The heart is here, but the lyrics have him sounding like a man who’s turned healing into a systematic process — a man who’s heard too much kind advice or maybe sat through too much therapy. He’s a prophet of recovery, and so the subject matter is all symptoms, hopes, helpful suggestions: “Why don’t you up and let things change, dear?” (“Who Do You Love”); “The best advice I ever had was leave what was behind/But did I see some value there/Or am I going blind?” (“Toro and the Toreador”). The melodies, meanwhile, are mostly catchy, if clumsy, but that doesn’t pay the bills when you could be listening to songs by Screeching Weasel or the Mr. T Experience that are no less direct but a good deal more tuneful.
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists + Love Of Diagrams | Avalon, 15 Lansdowne Street, Boston | May 4 | 617.931.2000
Related
:
Ted Leo | The Brutalist Bricks
,
Staying true
,
Photos: Ted Leo's benefit show for 826 Boston
,
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Ted Leo | The Brutalist Bricks
Leave it to Ted Leo to find his way from "There was a resolution pending on the United Nations floor" to "Tell the bartender I think I'm falling in love."
Staying true
With his roots in the popular ’90s band Chisel and his passion for punk-influenced, politically minded music, Ted Leo is a man with all types of fans.
Photos: Ted Leo's benefit show for 826 Boston
Ted Leo performs at a secret show to benefit 826 Boston on November 26, 2012.
Proud to be loud
So what would prompt a person to fly to Chicago for a long weekend only to stand around at a music festival whose headliners were on the level of the unpronounceable !!!, the Steve Albini/Bob Weston noise machine Shellac, and Arizona Giant Sand mates Calexico? Big Black, "The Power of Independent Trucking" (mp3)
''Alternative Label of the Year''
Dangerbird is offering rare remixes, demos, and Darker My Love’s homonymous debut in its entirety.
Major threats
Ian MacKaye has set quite a model for how a punk rocker ought to grow up.
Readers' picks 2007: Arts and Entertainment
SPACE Gallery, Dock Fore, the White Heart, and more.
Random forecast
One thing that’s sure to happen in the coming year is that people will make erroneous predictions about what will happen in the coming year.
Funny business
“Ashlee Simpson’s new album sold so poorly,” snorted the headline on Yahoo! this past week, that “it was beaten by a comedy album.”
Branding Bangor
If a big-league indie pop festival falls in Bangor, will anyone hear it?
Pop briefs
It’s late on a Tuesday night in early January at Great Scott, and Anushka Pop are setting up for what is to be one of a batch of performances the trio have booked to drum up interest in their first EP, Akathena (Sassy Boy).
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