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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | Andrea Kremer <kremer@shore.net> |
| Subject | Re: New fave rave: Ted Leo |
| Date | Tue, 7 Oct 2003 11:04:42 -0400 (EDT) |
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Yes. Both John Brodeur and I included Ted Leo on our "Best of 2003 So Far"
lists a few months back. See him live if you can, it's worth it.
-andrea
On Tue, 7 Oct 2003, Shawn Huckaby wrote:
> Haven't heard this one mentioned here, but I am absolutely swooning over
> the new Ted Leo & the Pharmacists disc, "Hearts of Oak".
>
> I came to this CD completely ignorant of any of Ted Leo's former work,
> though at least AMG seems to think at least some of it (in the band
> Chisel) was pretty influential in the mod/punk revival of the early 90s.
> I jumped solely based on an almost unqualified rave on the Pitchfork
> site; and man, am I ever glad I did.
>
> Imagine all of the best elements of every band you ever heard between
> 1977 and 1981 rolled into one supercharged bundle. Name checks are all
> over the place, but I definitely hear a LOT of early-nervey Joe Jackson,
> maybe some EC (esp. in the romantic yet snarly lyrics),the Jam, even
> some Thin Lizzy (and I mean that in a good way!). My wife even thought
> I had slipped in something new from Adam Marsland--a similar balls-out
> approach to his falsetto I think.
>
> God I love these bands that wear their hearts that far out on their
> sleeve; this guy sings like he has something important to say, damnit,
> and once you check the liner notes you see that there's a hell of a lot
> going on there. Check out 'Where Have All the Rudeboys Gone' for an
> unabashed love letter to the turbulence and (perhaps naive) idealism of
> the 2-tone scene. Or 'The Ballad of the Sin Eater' which covers
> T.E.Lawrence, Beau Geste, the road to Damascus, and the Manifestation of
> Doubt all within 4 minutes!
>
> Intelligent songwriting, plenty of hooks (and amped up guitars), and a
> frontman singing like his life's in the balance. That's a trifecta in
> my book. Suffice it to say that I didn't even make it throught the
> entire CD before I was back online to snap up the rest of the
> Pharmacist's catalogue.
>
> Anybody else knocked out by these guys??
>
> Best,
>
> Shawn Huckaby
>
> PS: an aside to Adam... have you heard this? His falsetto and total
> investment in delivery really does remind me of you!
>
>
>
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