Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - The Brutalist Bricks

After the disappointing 2007 release of Living with the Living, it’s nice to see power-pop auteurs Ted Leo and the Pharmacists back on form with The Brutalist Bricks.

This is the band’s first record for famed indie label Matador, and it delivers another solid batch of energetic guitar-bass-drums tracks. Leo is his old wild self on Bricks; the impassioned vocals and razor-sharp guitars recall Pharmacists records like 2003’s Hearts of Oak and 2004’s Shake the Sheets which gained his group a dedicated following.

This record is at its best when embodying Leo’s high-octane, punk-influenced songwriting. “Ativan Eyes” gallops toward a soaring sing-a-long chorus, and “Even Heroes Have To Die” pairs a driving staccato drumbeat with bristling electric guitar. Then, call-and-response anthem “Bottled in Cork” finds Leo taking a page out of Spoon frontman Britt Daniel’s book. The song builds into a gorgeous harmony, with various voices singing, “Tell the bartender/I think I’m falling in love.” Oh, Ted, you’re in love? Well done, mate.

Leo shirks romance on “Woke Up Near Chelsea,” a rallying punk stunner that features seething lines like, “Well we all got a job to do/We all hate God!” and “We are born of despair/We long for what’s fair.” Although it’s unclear who or what Leo is inciting when he shouts “we’re gonna do it together!” (perhaps soccer hooligans?), the abrasively catchy song convinces you to drop your office job and help him burn down the building.

The Brutalist Bricks finds Ted Leo and the Pharmacists red-faced with love and furor, and the record goes down like a couple of taurine tablets.