Ted Leo gets rough in “Colleen” video

It’s hard to watch the latest video from Ted Leo & the Pharmacists without entertaining the fact that ol' Tedder might just have something to prove. And who could blame him? The undeniable (though often less than desirable) hardcore-ness of his punk genre cohorts—what with their gigantic necks and murder charges and all—is enough to give any aspiring badass an inferiority complex. Plus, if you’ve ever actually Googled the phrase “ted leo + badass,” you might have noticed that very few of the top results actually reference Leo himself, but instead heap the superlative upon things like Jedi warriors, cheese dip and French Olympic figure skater Surya Bonaly. Ouch!

But the time has come to set the record straight. In this cinematic exploration of “Colleen” (from this year’s Living With the Living) Leo sheds his Pharmacists. He then busts out the baby powder, a few wads of cash and an inexplicable Thermos of baked beans, and commences to kicking some major booty. (Or, more accurately, some major arm.) Behold all three minutes and two seconds of raw power over at Stereogum, the video’s exclusive Internet home.

And so what if *omg spoiler alert!!!* he’s ultimately no match for that mohawked lady? In a development even more startling than the paleness of Leo’s first victim, at press time the video has received near-unanimous positive response from the perennially surly Stereogum commenters. Nary a gratuitous flame in sight? Now that’s badass.

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