Ted Leo & the Pharmacists

When Ted Leo & the Pharmacists' Hearts of Oak came out last year, most agreed that the former Chisel frontman had finally found his niche: '60s mod coolness, swingy '70s riffs, and '80s punk excess all glued together by Leo's smooth, high-register voice and intelligent, often political, lyrical witticisms. "It's times like these when a neck looks for a knife, a wrist for a razor, a heart is longing for bullets," he sings on "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone." Key to the appeal was the fact that Leo writes verses that read like novels or political treatises, but it seemed that the Pharmacists' frantic bombardment of sound was just as responsible for the success of Hearts as Leo's missives.

Details

The Fiery Furnaces and the Yellow Press open

Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 9 p.m.

Tickets are $10

621-4455

w ww.bottomofthehill.com

Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St. (at Missouri), S.F.

Related Content

• Noise Pop: Ted Leo Keeps It Punk All by His Lonesome at Bottom of the Hill
  February 25, 2011
• Sizzle & Fizzle: Highs and Lows from the Last Week in S.F. Music
  January 25, 2012
• Nothing Else Matters: Noise Pop 2011 Lineup Includes How To Dress Well
  December 7, 2010
• O.G. Punks
  May 25, 2011
• Stiff Little Fingers: Show Preview
  May 25, 2011

More About

• Ted Leo
• Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
• Accra Hearts of Oak SC

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Music Newsletter: Keep your thumb on the local music scene with music features, additional online music listings and show picks. We'll also send special ticket offers and music promotions available only to our Music Newsletter subscribers.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

Tell Balgeary, Balgury Is Dead proves that you don't need a prescription to feel the pain of Ted Leo. With the exception of the title track, which is lifted verbatim from Hearts, the songwriter's latest collection is essentially a solo project (there are brief exceptions) that sounds like Leo locked himself in a room with an electric guitar and a microphone. What's striking is that these songs are just as effective at rocking out as when he's playing with the full band. Riffs are noodled, breakdowns are anticipated, and buildups are employed, all with just a guitar. The material finds Leo in top form, crooning proudly (sometimes in falsetto), name-checking obscure historical facts, and presenting us with complicated characters who either hate their birthplace -- "Loyal to My Sorrowful Country" -- or mourn for happier times. If you're familiar with Hearts, you'll find Balgeary sounds almost like an afterthought, perhaps even the demos from the previous sessions. But while it's clear he didn't spend as much time on this record as he did on the previous full-length, what we discover here, when the band is stripped away, is that Leo's songs can eschew their arrangements and still hold their own. And hearing this for yourself is worth the money.