TED LEO AND THE PHARMACISTS
Hearts Of Oak (Lookout!)
Reviewed by Alan Wright

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Ted Leo's been getting a fair amount of press hailing him as some kind of powerpop god. Truth be told, I didn't like the first Pharmacists CD, The Tyranny of Distance, very much, but I thought I'd give this new one a whirl and see if I was missing something. Apparently not, as I don't like this one any better. A big part of it is that I find Leo's voice really annoying, and all the comparisons to Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson don't really sit with me. Well, maybe the Costello of recent years, or Joe Jackson's Night & Day period. I find a lot of this to be pretty 1970s MOR sounding, and thus fairly forgettable. For the life of me, I can't remember what a single song sounds like on this and I don't really care to, either.

© 2003 - Alan Wright