former band Chisel never made it out of the indie-hipster ghetto, and the Washington DC native's earlier albums with the Pharmacists were sprawling, all-over-the-place conglomerations of old-school punk, ska, Irish folk, dub reggae and tape-splice experimentation. Heart Of Oak is almost as stylistically diverse as Leo's earlier records, but his songwriting is far sharper: here, all the pieces fit together into a cohesive whole. First single "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?" pays heartfelt tribute to the post-punk UK ska milieu of the late '70s and early '80s, namechecking all of the key figures of the scene but smartly avoiding temptation to mimic their sound; if anything, the head-down boogie and football-shout vocals sound more like prime Thin Lizzy! The other single, the tough but catchy "Tell Balgeary, Balgury Is Dead," is like late-era Jam at their most '60s obsessed, with a dash of Madness' ultra-English music hall period. The rest of the album moves easily from sparse electronics to clattering post-punk rock, rounding out this varied and very strong effort.(RAR)
Monday 5 February 2007
Ted Leo And The Pharmacists - Heart Of Oak
Heart Of Oak was Ted Leo's long-awaited breakthrough album. His
former band Chisel never made it out of the indie-hipster ghetto, and the Washington DC native's earlier albums with the Pharmacists were sprawling, all-over-the-place conglomerations of old-school punk, ska, Irish folk, dub reggae and tape-splice experimentation. Heart Of Oak is almost as stylistically diverse as Leo's earlier records, but his songwriting is far sharper: here, all the pieces fit together into a cohesive whole. First single "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?" pays heartfelt tribute to the post-punk UK ska milieu of the late '70s and early '80s, namechecking all of the key figures of the scene but smartly avoiding temptation to mimic their sound; if anything, the head-down boogie and football-shout vocals sound more like prime Thin Lizzy! The other single, the tough but catchy "Tell Balgeary, Balgury Is Dead," is like late-era Jam at their most '60s obsessed, with a dash of Madness' ultra-English music hall period. The rest of the album moves easily from sparse electronics to clattering post-punk rock, rounding out this varied and very strong effort.(RAR)
former band Chisel never made it out of the indie-hipster ghetto, and the Washington DC native's earlier albums with the Pharmacists were sprawling, all-over-the-place conglomerations of old-school punk, ska, Irish folk, dub reggae and tape-splice experimentation. Heart Of Oak is almost as stylistically diverse as Leo's earlier records, but his songwriting is far sharper: here, all the pieces fit together into a cohesive whole. First single "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?" pays heartfelt tribute to the post-punk UK ska milieu of the late '70s and early '80s, namechecking all of the key figures of the scene but smartly avoiding temptation to mimic their sound; if anything, the head-down boogie and football-shout vocals sound more like prime Thin Lizzy! The other single, the tough but catchy "Tell Balgeary, Balgury Is Dead," is like late-era Jam at their most '60s obsessed, with a dash of Madness' ultra-English music hall period. The rest of the album moves easily from sparse electronics to clattering post-punk rock, rounding out this varied and very strong effort.(RAR)
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