Ted Leo and The Pharmacists Hearts of Oak

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i also fear i "identify" with some of the lyrics too closely.

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 8 December 2003 19:35 (twenty years ago) link

("you can never fully be considered a grown up until you stop identifing with indie lyrics about being drunk.")

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 8 December 2003 19:35 (twenty years ago) link

Hey, I never said he was better than the Jam and Thin Lizzy, but he's pretty great.

― Matt Helgeson (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 8 December 2003 21:16 (twenty years ago) link

(a football team!)

― raphael diligent (Cozen), Monday, 8 December 2003 21:42 (twenty years ago) link

And they're wearing football shirts on the sleeve as well! COINCIDENCE?

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Tuesday, 9 December 2003 11:23 (twenty years ago) link

one month passes...

Thanks to Jess's listing of it in his top ten of last year I bought this two days ago and much to my surprise, I'm loving it. I usually hate this retroish-indie sort of thing, but the hooks + storming rhythm section make it pretty much irresistable. Also his voice is really compelling and like Mr Harvell sez there's an maybe-not-that-comfortable bit of identification re lyrics going on too (jooi, how old exactly is Mr Leo?)(+ refs to Selby-Leeds railway line have got to be good, yes?).

― Ricardo (RickyT), Monday, 26 January 2004 12:24 (twenty years ago) link

after everybody liking it I started recommending it to indierock types, & after everyone starting profusely thanking me for tipping them off, downloaded a few tracks.

um does it sound like non-quirky Game Theory to anybody else? but it's really nice.

― etc, Thursday, 29 January 2004 06:34 (twenty years ago) link

i'd have to guess he's probably in his early-mid 30s now?

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 29 January 2004 06:47 (twenty years ago) link

I don't listen to this as much as I ought to. Probably haven't in a few months, actually. Choice songs: Ballad Of The Sin Eater, Bridges & Squares, Where Have All The Rude Boyzzzz Gone, I'm A Ghost.

― Ian Johnson (orion), Thursday, 29 January 2004 06:49 (twenty years ago) link

I love Chisel so much I can't bring myself to love "Hearts of Oak" like it should be loved. "Tyranny of Distance" is something else, though.

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Thursday, 29 January 2004 07:31 (twenty years ago) link

I just got back from a serious facerocking courtesy of Mr. Leo at the Bottom of the Hill here in SF, and hereby nominate him for Hardest Working Man In Show Business 2004 (Indie Rock Division). Bonus points for being punk enough to open his show with a solo cover of the Pogues' "Dirty Old Town".

― Nick Mirov (nick), Thursday, 29 January 2004 09:17 (twenty years ago) link

three months pass...

wow, I just noticed the drummer counting in left channel on "The High Party"

― Be sure to Loop! Loop, Loop, Loop. (ex machina), Tuesday, 25 May 2004 19:18 (nineteen years ago) link

two months pass...

Is the Belgeary ep worth buying? I love the band so much not sure what Ted without them would sound like.

― Jim Reckling (Jim Reckling), Saturday, 14 August 2004 23:53 (nineteen years ago) link

I like it, but I'm a sucker for any solo electric guitar. It sounds knocked off; he's just banging the chords out for a lot of the songs, but's it's straight and solid. I like the occasional flubs; he's going for straight rhythm rather than precise notes, which is the same way I play, so maybe there's some sympathy there.

Most of all, it reminds me of how damn good Hearts of Oak is, though. 'Bridges, Squares' has made me all happy since I did a course in Urban Geography.

― derrick (derrick), Sunday, 15 August 2004 05:58 (nineteen years ago) link

three weeks pass...

I can't work out if I like this album that much. I love the opening track and then it all ends up sounding like what the Manics would have done had they been American and wanted to release Generation Terrorists.

― dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 6 September 2004 13:39 (nineteen years ago) link

eight months pass...

on the bus home tonight (hearing a 'sheets' track i think but i've been listening to 'hearts' now to reflect) it occurred to me that one thing i like about ted leo is how total the songwriting sounds: in lots and lots of the songs (not all the time), i get the impression that the different parts have been chosen as part of a total design for the song, not just filled in after some other important part like the lyrics or vocal or riff was settled on. i don't know if this is true but i'm thinking about it now.

― Josh (Josh), Thursday, 12 May 2005 06:14 (eighteen years ago) link

i'd be interested to know what kind of control over the other people's input he had on 'hearts' and 'sheets', since he did some but not all of the bass and drum parts on 'tyranny'. (and one wonders how the ones he didn't do there came about - i.e., at what point in the writing process e.g. brendan canty or his brother or whoever entered in, how much of the song leo gave them.)

― Josh (Josh), Thursday, 12 May 2005 06:20 (eighteen years ago) link

twelve years pass...

To celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of the release of the critically acclaimed album, Hearts of Oak, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists are embarking on a limited run of shows, performing two nights in each town.
On the first night, we’ll warm up with some recent songs, then perform the Hearts of Oak album in its entirety.
On the second night, we’ll perform a set-list that spans the almost twenty-year history of releases; from 1999’s self-titled LP to 2017’s The Hanged Man.

tickets went on sale yesterday, i got one for the first night in brooklyn, super stoked. always been my favorite album of his by a wide margin

― lowercase (eric), Saturday, 10 March 2018 13:19 (six years ago) link

MAY 31 CHICAGO, IL Empty Bottle (sold out)
JUNE 01 CHICAGO, IL TBA
JUNE 08 WASHINGTON, DC Black Cat
JUNE 09 WASHINGTON, DC Black Cat
JUNE 12 BROOKLYN, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
JUNE 13 BROOKLYN, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
JUNE 15 BOSTON, MA Brighton Music Hall
JUNE 16 BOSTON, MA Brighton Music Hall
JUNE 18 SAN FRANCISCO, CA Rickshaw Stop
JUNE 19 SAN FRANCISCO, CA Rickshaw Stop
JUNE 21 LOS ANGELES, CA The Echo
JUNE 22 LOS ANGELES, CA The Echo

― lowercase (eric), Saturday, 10 March 2018 13:23 (six years ago) link

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