Search - Ted Leo & The Pharmacists :: Hearts of Oak

New Wave, say hi to New Jersey

aharon levy | brooklyn | 05/05/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Okay, so he's copped everything he can from the early, angry Joe Jackson and Elvis Costello, and he's sounding a little bit Brit for a guy from the Garden State. But Ted Leo isn't just another false idol in the neverending search for the second coming of The Boss. Leo's often been compared to Springsteen, and there's really something to it. They differ sylistically (instead of music from the birth of rock, Leo mines the insightful pop-punk of the gents mentioned above, plus the Clash, Television, and so forth), but both are all about intensity tempered by intelligence. Like Springsteen, the power of his music--to overwhelm the senses and summon strong emotion without shutting off the listener's brain--makes itself known on album work but makes itself truly FELT only in live performance. The album is, in whole or in part, a 9/11 reaction. This means it has the potential for both a built-in audience and a built-in cringe factor. But Leo doesn't take the easy way out, on either score, and comes up with something rich in its ambiguities. Again like Springsteen, he manages to catch the complexity of characters in change--from the hesitant growing-up singalong of "Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone?" to the searing depiction of a man's belated awakening to the world's brutishness in "The Ballad of the Sin Eater." Throughout, there's precise but casual playing, solid singing, and production which seems like a happy accident--of the kind which comes about after many hard hours on the boards. Stylistically, the band stretches from standard lightly-fuzzed power pop with rock-steady grace notes to encompass some quasi-folk strum and even some Celtic sounds. It's fresh. That said, this album is perilously close to a 2-star experience. Anyone who shoehorns the word "historicity" into a song risks crossing the barrier between really good Gang of Four and...well, really bad Gang of Four. But the band's passion carries the day--Leo's insight doesn't become navel gazing, and his comments on world affairs aren't the ego-stroking of your standard rock star but the genuinely uncertain musings of someone taking the measure of a world that's changed."

Contender for best of 2003

D. Sippel | Chicago, IL United States | 04/17/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ted Leo just keeps getting better. Ted has been writing songs and playing vital music for several years now, coming up from the New York and D.C. punk scenes of the late 80's and early 90's. After listening to his work with Chisel, especially their classic "Set You Free", it's hard to imagine that release not being a welcome peak to any artist's career. Following the demise of Chisel, Ted released the rousing "Tyranny of Distance" with The Pharmacists. Ted continues to evolve as a songwriter, including the best elements of punk, pop, folk, and soul in his thoughtful tracks. After giving so much of his time and energy to the independent music scene over the years, it's almost surprising that Ted's live and recorded work still crackle with such refreshing vitality. Ted seems to have a bottomless tank of energy and enthusiasm, and "Hearts of Oak" celebrates all of the joy and passion that exist in music today.Just listen to the sound bites for the songs "Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone", "I'm A Ghost", "The High Party", and "Hearts of Oak". That should be enough to sell any respectable fan of rock and pop music on this disc. These are all great tracks, and the strength of "Hearts of Oak" doesn't stop there. Ted builds and reflects upon each track, giving each song a distinctive voice, yet holding it all together as a cohesive collection that can (and should) be listened to from start to finish in one sitting. Lyrically and musically, this is one of the best CDs you can buy in 2003. In what is already shaping up to be a good year for music (with new releases from Cursive, White Stripes, Idlewild, AFI, and others), I can guarantee that Ted Leo & The Pharmacists' "Hearts of Oak" will be topping many a year end best list. That shouldn't necessarily influence your decision to buy this great disc, but quality speaks volumes and "Hearts of Oak" is loaded with quality. Ted is also touring extensively with The Pharmacists in support of this disc, and their sweat drenched, upbeat, rockin' live show is well worth the usually low price of admission. Buy the disc and check out the live show."

I Heart This Record

Paul H. | USA | 08/30/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ted Leo writes songs every "rock revival" band wishes they could write. In essence, Ted Leo is one of the strongest voices in rock these days, and on Hearts Of Oak, he and his band The Pharmascists tighten their attack and produce some of the best straighforward rock n' roll in years. Mr. Leo takes the best elements of Elvis Costello, The Clash, Billy Bragg, Chuck Berry, and The Stones and boils it all down into a vibrant and potent mix that trancends its influences. If bands like Phantom Planet and OkGo water-down the herky-jerky new-wave of Costello and The Cars for easy consumption, Mr. Leo is the real successor to Costello or Ocasik. Hearts Of Oak is just as strong as the fantastic The Tyranny Of Distance as Ted makes every vocal yelp, every guitar solo, and every lyrics burn. The guy is a genius, and I can say that with a straight-face and without fear that I might take that back a few years down the line. This is the real future of rock n' roll, kids; Hearts Of Oak is timeless, fresh, and beyond satisfying."