Ted Leo + Pharmacists
Shake the Sheets
It’s hard not to root for any artist on a roll, but with his third excellent album in less than four years, Ted Leo is exceeding expectations. Leo is more focused here than he was on last year’s brilliant “Hearts of Oak” or 2001’s “The Tyranny of Distance.” Yet he stuffs a novel’s worth of literate lyrics within each tightly wound nugget of political unrest. Leo seems so sick of current events (and our administration) that it sounds like his head is going to explode. That barely contained fury, combined with his impeccable populist punk songcraft, once again proves utterly irresistible. It’s one of the best albums this year.
Take away: Master class
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Edited by Curt Wagner ([email protected]) and Victoria Rodriguez ([email protected])