"Bomb. Repeat. Bomb" was perplexing, definitely. But "Colleen"? That's such a phenomenal song, super catchy. Makes total sense as a single, imo.

colleen is a good enough song but in the ted leo cannon its very MOR. i get why it was picked for a single though.

however, UR again correct in that sons of cain should have been the single and that its a TL/Rx song for the ages.

I thought Colleen was the most boring song on that record.

Tyranny of Distance owns my bones. Hearts of Oak was only a slight step down, but I long for those Ted Leo days. So, if all of you guys have this, where is the leak?

Putting a poorly cropped bee/whale on yellow/blue? His sleeves are so ugly and half-assed. Especially Living.

But, yeah, his choice of singles are often worse. Ted needs a good boss like few other musicians. It seems like he's always shooting himself in the foot with atrocious lyrics or terrible art or goofy singles. Let go of DIY and bring in someone who says "no."

I thought it was the least boring song on that record. There was a lot of boring to go around. Which kind of hurts me to say, because I really, really liked everything he had done up to that point.

Back to the new record: I haven't been paying much attention to the lyrics so I can't comment (Frankly I've always thought his lyrics were pretty good), but musically it's pretty sweet.

The bee isn't cropped.

leaked, isn't it.

some promo copy holder is very, very bad person.

Pretty disappointed with this after my first couple of listens. The songs are good, but none of them really stood out to me, plus I'd have to agree that the lyrics on this one seem pretty weak. I hate how flat the sound is on most of this and I wish he'd go back to the "live in the studio" sound that Tyranny had. I still need to spend more time on this one.

interesting, i think tyranny excels in part because it's the least "live in the studio" sounding record he's ever made (same goes for HoA). those records sound like there's a lot of post production/studio polishing going on, whereas STS and LWTL have a much greater "live in the studio" sound (ala a steve albini record or something) than those first two do. all in all the first two records are a lot more sonically rich than the last two.

have not heard this one one yet, FTR

Ftr, I like "Colleen". It is catchy and poppy, but it kinda drags and it doesn't command much attention. Why you would choose that as a single over "Sons of Cain" and "Who Do You Love?" which are also catchy but have so much more punch and energy to them is a mystery to me.

The only cover of the full-lengths that feels "half-assed" to me is LWTL. The other covers all fit the personality of the records and never struck me as being bad. Aside from the fact that there's a song called "Stove By A Whale" on it and the lyrics in "Biomusicology", the TOD cover always fit because there's something lonely and nostalgic about it, which is how I think of that record. HOO was the first album that really felt like a TL/Rx band effort, so the Hearts of Oak Football Club thing works. And the STS artwork is probably hideous to most people, but I love the colors and it looks like something that someone would have done in the early '80s for a Clash tour of Japan or something. I'm not saying his artwork on the records is great, but they match his aesthetic/music and I just don't see any of them as being particularly bad.

"Sons of Cain" I can get behind as a single. "Who Do You Love?" I dunno.

It's either that song or "Bottle of Buckie" (haven't listened in a while, so I can't remember) that sounds like it should be a sitcom theme.

But we're talking about Touch & Go, who not only doesn't really exist anymore, but was never really in the business of making hits.

I'm essentially a Ted Leo newb, which I feel kinda bad about after hearing this album. I enjoyed this a lot.

Great Ghosts, "Woke Up Near Chelsea," man. That song doesn't do anything for you?

I hear a little bit of Nick Lowe on "Bottled in Cork."

yes... Bottle of Buckie is f'n AWFUL

really? i always kinda liked 'Bottle of Buckie.'

I'm on my third listen here, on speakers instead of headphones and I'm actually digging this way more than I was this morning. Sleep deprived in bassless headphones wasn't a good way to check it out. The lyrics are still kind of grating on me, but the music itself isn't bothering me AT ALL like it was earlier.

I guess I was probably jumping the gun saying that ToD had the live in the studio sound. I think it applies to certain tracks like 'Stove By a Whale' and 'Dial Up', but it's not really present in the entire album.

something about his vocal inflection on that chorus just makes me cringe, idk. musically it's not so bad.

I think "Bottle of Buckie" is awesome.

About the last minute is OK, otherwise boring.

I haven't been able to make it all the way through Living with the Living, yet.

I kinda remeber liking the last two songs on it? I dunno. It is a bit of a chore through the middle part, yeah.

Ted Leo doing straight reggae.

That's sort of how I feel about 'Even Heroes Have to Die.' I feel the chorus is killing an otherwise fantastic tune.


Also, regarding this disc, when I heard a handful of these new songs live last fall I was pretty stoked for the album. They sounded excellent.

But something about this new disc isn't sitting well with me. I think it's the way his voice sounds on here. I just feel like the vocals were mixed in a way that brought them pretty far up in the mix. Granted I've only listened to this really once on my crummy car stereo, but something seemed off to me.

Still there are a few pretty good tunes on here. I quite like 'Bottled in Cork' and 'Last Days.'

I think I need to give this more time...

the toro and the toreador is probably one of my most and least favorite ted leo songs. so earnest it hurts a little. still a great power ballad.

I don't know how anyone can be a fan and not like C.I.A. Here's the only live version of it I can find online: https://www.msu.edu/~lakinjef/cia.mp3

What are you alleging here, tutpsu?

Oh nothing, just starting a game of "IMAREALFAN".

No, all I'm saying is that LWTL is great. Give it another chance.

Waylon's testimony would suggest he's never heard CIA.

It took 2 years for me to come around to Shake the Sheets, mostly because I only played it once or twice after I bought it.

The same thing probably happened with Living with the Living.

3 songs into the new one - liking it a lot more than his previous work. May have to revisit it.

I like this album a lot more than Living With the Living to be honest. I don't even really have a problem with the lyrics so much. A few songs kinda sound like sloganeering, but you kinda come to expect that with Ted. Just part of the deal. But by and large, save for the 2 or 3 throwaway punk tracks, the songs are just a lot better on this album than his last.

And after my previous statement, it was, in fact, "Who Do You Love?" that sounds like a sitcom theme. The way the song pauses mid-verse, you kind of half expect to see a "Miller-Boyett Production" credit.

who has this beast, i wanna sample.

I probably play Shake the Sheets more often than any other Ted Leo album.

It just hits so hard and is incredibly efficient. That said, it is arguably nowhere near as good as Tyranny or Hearts of Oak.

The new one is sounding nice. Lacks a real stunner on first few listens, but everything at least sounds good to great right now.

Leo's previous 3 albums were not only good, but pretty cohesive. I think that's what made LWTL seem especially scattershot and disappointing. STS was so concise too; basically a 35-40 minute stripped-down rock record that seemed to make a statement. Then you go from that to an album that goes past the hour mark, hops around a little bit stylistically and has a few songs in the 6-7 minute range. I still think the fact that he played half of the album live (and these songs could easily be found on the internets) for months before the album's release also dulled the excitement among fans. I consider myself a pretty big fan, but not long after buying that album, I put it away and kinda forgot about it. When I thought about it or was asked about it, my response was "ehhhh". But there are some great moments/songs on it that I overlooked for a while. The album versions of stuff like "La Costa Brava", "Army Bound" and "Sons of Cain" are really good. Stuff like "Colleen" and "Bottle of Buckie" I'm not crazy about, but those are catchy, likable-enough songs. If they were the worst songs on LWTL, it'd have been a pretty great record. As it is, it's like a 8.0-ish record buried underneath too much other stuff.

Sheets might be his best produced record, that's for certain.

not liking some of the drum sounds on this new one.

i like the sparrow song that was just leaked more than heroes song. looking forward to this.

I've listened to this quite a few times and I've come to the conclusion that it's a really, really good album. As mentioned before, "Bottled in Cork" is one of the highest peaks, but there's a lot of good songs: "Gimme the Wire," "Last Days" and "Ativan Eyes" are all pretty spectacular.

The thing about the lyrics. On the whole, I think they're pretty good, he just throws in a couple of really awkward lines. The thing about "The means of production are in the hands of the worker..." I mean, he couuld have pulled that straight from a Crass song or something. Maybe he did? I dunno. He does also mention Flux of Pink Indians in the song, so it's entirely possible. But nonetheless, the melody on that song is great. And the harmonies during the chorus? Fantastic.

anyone care to share (buying this no matter what when it comes out...)

Mega lols @ reading the words "Flux of Pink Indians" in a Ted Leo thread.

'Bartolomeo and The Buzzing of Bees' is the weirdest Ted track I've heard in years. Sounds like Elliott Smith forgetting how to to play 'Old Man' by Neil Young. Totally strange.

You mean "Tuberculoids Arrive in Hop" ?

Not that surprising that Leo would be a fan/namedrop them.

If you wrote down 15 Flux lines and 15 Leo lyrics down on a sheet of paper, most people would not be able to tell which was which.

Yeah, that was it. Knew my memory probably wasn't serving me there.

so...

i been listening to this one periodically for the last few weeks now and i'd say its a slight step up from the last one, but still not approaching TOD, HOA or STS levels yet. but we'll see. it's more lush/polished than LWTL or STS which featured really barebones almost albini-esque production to my ears (and both of those records did that sound well IMO). the increased lushness puts it closer to TOD and HOA, but unlike those records it's got the brevity and intense focus of STS. i prefer the more eclectic, rounded sound of the first two records to STS (although that's a great record), and this one is just not as good as STS. so...

TOD
HOA
STS
TBB
LWTL

With STS and LWTL, they both grew on me more long after I first heard them. that said, I still have no qualms about saying LWTL is his worst. This one I liked a lot right off the bat, not sure where it ranks, but it is a solid album. Definitely not to the peaks of Tyranny or Hearts, but very little is.

I totally agree with Hans ranking 100%

So, now that I'm hooked on Brutalist Bricks, I decided I need to start listening to more Ted Leo. What album is a good starting point?

Hearts of Oak or Tyranny of Distance.