Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Biography
Ted Leo already had a solid presence in the indie punk scene by the time he decided to go solo with his band The Pharmacists. With a power pop aesthetic and a punk rock soul, he started out in New York hardcore bands Citizens Arrest and Animal Crackers. In 1990 he moved to DC and formed a little-known but influential mod/punk band, Chisel. They released a handful of EPs and two well-received full-length albums, Eight A.M. All Day (1996) and Set You Free (1997) on New Jersey label, Gern Blandsten. After Chisel disbanded, Ted Leo did a stint on guitar with rockin’ pop duo The Spinanes, started another band with his brother Danny called The Sin Eaters and produced an album for Secret Stars. When he got The Pharmacists together in 1999 and recorded his debut solo record, Tej Leo (?), Rx/pharmacists (1999 Gern Blandsten) he was on the way to becoming a cult legend, proving himself to be a gifted and prolific artist who would release one brilliant record after another.
The debut is a sprawling (19 tracks), entertaining hodgepodge of styles, cut-n-paste loops and choppy sound collages with a few solid rockers and a couple of angsty ballads thrown in. It’s a loose, eclectic and loaded with disparate ideas, as if Leo needed to get them all out of his system before he unleashed the onslaught of high quality releases to come. The EP Treble in Trouble (2000 Ace Fu) followed -- a powerful, cohesive collection with some cracking songs like the distinctive, punchy title track and the cool, groovy “Little Girl in Bloom.” The Pharmacists’ line-up changed over the course of the next ten years as musicians came and went and made guest appearances, but the musicianship on each album maintains an excellence in keeping with Leo’s consistency of songwriting and artistic vision. The next two records, The Tyranny of Distance (2001 Lookout!) and Hearts of Oak (2003 Lookout!) are both blinders, as Leo displays a wonderful ability to distil his favorite aspects punk rock along with its weirder subgenres like hardcore, dub reggae, ska, agit pop, even Celtic folk, fusing them with a flawless pop sensibility and an intellectual craftiness that make for inspired, bordering-on-classic songs. It’s difficult even to pick a highlight, but Tyranny’s “Biomusicology” with its subtle hooks and the ode to The Specials, “Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone” from Hearts of Oak would be two contenders. One of the most infectious, high-octane tracks from the latter appears as the title of the subsequent EP Tell Balgeary, Bulgury is Dead (2003 Lookout!), another stellar collection of songs featuring covers by The Jam, Ewan MacColl (“Dirty Old Town) and Split Enz.
Along with his many talents, Ted Leo is a supremely skilled vocalist. His impressing range, his lyrical eloquence and the way he manages to express a controlled rawness results in highly emotional yet considered, cerebral songs. Shake the Sheets (2004 Lookout!) comes off as a proper protest album (“Loyal to my Sorrowful Country” is a case in point), as he explores both the state of current times and the perils of interpersonal conflicts. The arrangements are simple and stripped down, but Leo’s fierce guitar stabs are ever-present in tracks like “The Angel’s Share’ and the tense, pop gem, “Criminal Peace” — think Squeeze on Speed. In fact, other 80s pop icons receive a nod or two as well, from the minimal, electric folkiness of Billy Bragg (which is undeniable) to the intricate pop intelligence of Elvis Costello.
It almost starts to get comical, but the next record, Living With the Living (2007 Touch and Go) sees Ted Leo releasing yet another album of unfailingly good songs. He takes on heated topics (“Bomb. Repeat. Bomb.”) and explores fragile, personal territory (“The Toro and the Toreador”). The exciting, super high-energy album opener “The Sons of Cain” is a standout track, but let’s face it, they kind of all are. And the most recent release, The Brutalist Bricks (2010 Matador) shows no signs of wavering, in all its sharp, hooky brilliance. The songs are just plain superb, including the punk belter “Where Was My Brain,” the pop masterpiece “Even Heroes Have to Die.” What more can you say? Ted Leo is one of the best songwriters of his time, and having spent the early part of his career seeking the right vehicle for his genius, he seems to have found it with The Pharmacists.