Band: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Release: 3/2010
Label: Matador Records

1. “Mighty Sparrow” – A-
2. “Mourning In America” – C
3. “Ativan Eyes” – B
4. “Even Heroes Have To Die” – C-
5. “The Stick” – C-
6. “Bottled In Cork” – C-
7. “Woke Up Near Chelsea” – D
8. “One Polaroid A Day” – C-
9. “Where Was My Brain?” – B-
10. “Bartolomeo…” – C
11. “Tuberculoids Arrive…” – D+
12. “Gimme The Wire” – C+
13. “Last Days” – B

Comments: I’m not entirely unfamiliar with Ted Leo. I mean, I’ve seen their name thrown around so much, but I never really listened to them. Not going to bullshit you people, but I always got the impression that this band played some kind of math rock. That was unwarranted and I couldn’t have been more wrong.  It turns they are more of a post-punk or pop-punk outfit, somewhere between Louis XIV and Head Automatica. I have a spot in my heart for bands like this and I could tell pretty quickly that Ted Leo is going to be hit or miss personally. Not sure if the band intentionally ripped off Sonic Youth’s “Poison Arrow” with “Mighty Sparrow.” Obviously any well produced rip-off of Sonic Youth is going to sound pretty good. I guess listening to this band gives you hipster cred, because they dance on the line of what’s mainstream pop-punk and what’s not. Even attempts that are meant to be of the hardcore (not literally) “I don’t give a shit” variety of punk come off unnatural like in “The Stick.” All right Ted Leo, time to sign to Columbia. Enough of this shit, you posers. You make good bands signed to Matador look bad like the late Jay Reatard and Mission of Burma. Slightly kidding, but slightly not. The below average songs are really sucky and the decent songs are really decent. “Last Days” is a pretty good way to end a pretty ugly string of tracks.

Grade: C (75)