It should come to no surprise that a guy from New Jersey like myself would love Ted Leo. In the last 10 or so years, the Bloomfield native has been near the forefront of the independent East Coast music scene. His music is consistently well crafted and rock-solid. There are rarely gaps in Leo’s music. His lyrics are as straightforward as his simple pop/rock song hooks, structures, and melodies. On March 9th Ted Leo & The Pharmacists returned with their sixth studio album, The Brutalist Bricks, and it seems as if Leo has gone back to the drawing board on this one. There are some excellent songs on this album that unquestionably deserve a listen, but this record is certainly not as great as 2003’s Hearts of Oak. However, if you are looking for a good, solid pop/rock record this is certainly recommended.
The opener on the album, “The Mighty Sparrow,” returns with the Ted Leo we all have loved for years. If there is anything that Ted Leo does exceptionally well it is write great song structures. “The Mighty Sparrow” is an excellent example of this. The intro of the song with its single guitar and vocals builds up to the backing of the band that just explodes in your ears. It is a superb song structure that never lets down. Whenever I have listened to this record, as I have often heard some touches of other musicians of the past. For example, the first verse of “The Mighty Sparrow” reminds me a great deal of the late great Jay Reatard with its jangling acoustic guitars. The second track on the album, “Mourning in America,” proceeds with an unlikely different sound. The reggae sounding chorus mixed with Leo’s hardest riff of the album combines to create the most unique song on Bricks.
Despite the quick flash bang that comes on the second track, the album is pretty consistent in sound, which is good to some, but is a letdown for me. If there is any major critiques of this record it is that one cannot listen to this record looking for a drastic change in sound from song to song. There are few songs that change their focal points or even simply change to different sounds on the instruments.
Besides this common problem that many artists encounter on records that come out later in one’s career, such as this, one of the things I really like about this album is that the last song is actually good. You won’t believe the amount of albums I have listened to this year where the last song is just so ehhh. The last song on the album is very important because obviously it is last song the artist is leaving the listener with. I also feel as if what my cross country coach in high school, Joe Suirano, said about racing could not be truer about an album, “it is not necessarily how you start a race, but rather how you end it.” “Last Days” is one of the best songs on the album. As I said previously, the album occasionally brings up ghosts of great records and artists of the past. “Last Days” briefly brings back remnants of Elvis Costello’s classic riff on, “Pump it Up.” There is nothing wrong with little hints of Costello to brighten up your album.
Despite the few times where the album switches to a punkier thud, the album mostly remains pretty linear in effortless, well crafted rock and pop songs. “Ativan Eyes” and “Even Heroes Have to Die” or “Bottled In Cork” exemplify this notion quite well. Actually nearly every song on this album shows this well. The Brutalist Bricks is, for me, one of the most consistent Leo records to date and one of the most reliable albums of the year.
Rating: 81/100- Greg
Below is one of my favorite songs on the album:
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