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Indie vet is getting very sleepy
Ted Leo is a rock legend, but on his sixth album, he’s beginning to show his age, and not in a wisdom-gaining kind of way. The Brutalist Bricks, one of the most highly anticipated albums of this year, is full of melodic pop-punk that would have fit right in a decade ago but sounds weary and exhausted today.
The album is full of hooky, melodic choruses with snarly punk edges and chunky guitar riffs, but many of the songs blend together into murky, under-seasoned soup. The highs are sky high; “Bartolomeo And The Buzzing of Bees” has a satisfyingly groovy bass line, while the chugging punk staccato of “Where Was My Brain” is an upbeat shimmy-inducer. Finally, in the quietly gorgeous “Tuberculoids Arrive in Hops,” Leo taps into a chilling folk sound that ripples and expands like quiet water disturbed by a thrown rock.
Unfortunately, the rest of the album is just plain forgettable—a flat stale gray of staid sentiments and middle-of-the-road rock. “Woke Up Near Chelsea” is a wailing mess and Leo’s use of low register vocals on “One Polaroid A Day” makes the song’s Urban Outfitters fare even less appealing. “Bottled in Cork” has a tired melody fit for dueling mics karaoke and annoyingly repeats, “Tell the bartender / I think I’m falling in love” 20 times.
Someone get Leo a heaping scoop of bee pollen, and quick; he’s brilliant, but he needs a good, healthy pick-me-up.
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Wow, way to be the opposite of every review I've read for this record. It seems almost EVERY journalist/blogger/loudmouthtalkinghead thinks "bottled in cork" is the big winner, and "tuberculoid" is a weird left turn. Bet you were one of those Atari Jaguar kids when everyone else got the Sega.
Way to be different!
Look, Leo isn't exactly reinventing the wheel here, but I fail to see any comparison between a rock music album and soup. Certainly he's sticking with what has worked for him in the past, with familiar beats and themes throughout the choruses.
The whole album is streaming at Http://www.spinner.com/new-releases
Oh Paste, I love you so - yet you still write some of the worst, most inaccurate reviews of any major (indie) publication. Your features are great but you really do need to find some new reviewers. I suppose you thought The Monitor was overlong and middling and that Plastic Beach was unimaganative and that I and Love and You was a masterpiece or crowning jewel. However, if you keep persistently (as you do now) contradicting your reviews in your features a few months after you write the reviews - I will continue to be a content reader. I'll be waiting for a summer issue where you reference The Brutalist Bricks and praise it as "A smart and concise batch of songs perfect for soundtracking your summer days."
That is a truly lame review. Thank you for helping to lose potential listeners for a vital and energetic band.