Band: Ted Leo
Album: The Brutalist Bricks
Sounds Like: Clash, The Thermals, Okkervil River
Sub-Sub Genre: Personal Political Indie Punk
Essential Tracks: Bottled in Cork, Even Heroes have to Die, The Mighty Sparrow
DJ Sub Par Says:
Ted Leo is a steady hand. Every couple years he releases an album that comes from a punk rock impulse (read:the clash) that is unafraid to incorporate other influences, including reggee, dub, folk, celtic. While not every detour is successful, it is delivered with enough energy until Ted finds his feet again. He certainly finds his footing a few times on this album. He comes out of the gate with The Mighty Sparrow and the lyrics "When the cafe doors exploded I reacted to/reacted to yoooou." Try starting your morning of with that a see if you don't have a better day.
DJ Responsible Says:
Ted & the gang are at their best when they're making songs about places. "Bottled in Cork," the high point of The Brutalist Bricks's many peaks, is the sound of aging realists maintaining a bright-eyed wonder towards their globe-trotting ways. After name-dropping the United Nations and maybe a dozen (mostly European) cities, the narrative eventually drifts into something more narrow and immediate: "I tell the bartender/I think I'm falling love" repeated optimistically over the sound of dizzy, clinking glasses.
Even when Ted Leo are sounding raw for the sake of being raw ("The Stick"), or weird for the sake of weirdness ("Mourning in America"), they are simply avoiding the semi-downfall uniform-catchiness of 2004's Shake the Sheets. The Brutalist Bricks is just another example of Ted Leo giving 'prolific' a good name.
DJ Responsible Says:
Ted & the gang are at their best when they're making songs about places. "Bottled in Cork," the high point of The Brutalist Bricks's many peaks, is the sound of aging realists maintaining a bright-eyed wonder towards their globe-trotting ways. After name-dropping the United Nations and maybe a dozen (mostly European) cities, the narrative eventually drifts into something more narrow and immediate: "I tell the bartender/I think I'm falling love" repeated optimistically over the sound of dizzy, clinking glasses.
Even when Ted Leo are sounding raw for the sake of being raw ("The Stick"), or weird for the sake of weirdness ("Mourning in America"), they are simply avoiding the semi-downfall uniform-catchiness of 2004's Shake the Sheets. The Brutalist Bricks is just another example of Ted Leo giving 'prolific' a good name.
No comments:
Post a Comment