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 | Ted Leo and the PharmacistsLiving with the Living2007 Touch and Go 
 Review by: JonC See others by this writer Only registered users can post comments 
 
Published on March 20th 2007
If great American songwriters like Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen had grown up in the east coast post-hardcore scene of the late 1980s they probably would have sounded a lot like Ted Leo. With their fifth release, Leo and his Pharmacists offer the enjoyable Living with the Living, an album that covers all the musical bases.
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I forget which song it is, but one of the ones on here reminds me a whole lot of Johnny Appleseed by Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros. Well it's not as good as Shake The Sheets but I appreciate the difference in style. The heavier stuff like "Bomb.Repeat. Bomb." and "Living with the Living" are good. The Chumbawamba cover on the EP is very good. But "Who Do You Love" is my favourite. "I had that problem too. Go into "get info" then click the tab sorting I deleted "sort name" then I went into the "info" tab and deleted the album artist on that tab." "Is anyone else with the mp3s from the Touch and Go site having trouble getting the tracks to show up in the right order on an iPod? They're tagged correctly, as far as I can tell, but Fourth World War is showing up after The Sons of Cain." "hey guess what>? ted leo fucking completely sucks and his band of 2 fruitcakes rock about as hard as good fucking charlotte. overrated and so incredibly lame, and his voice, as usual, sounds like scratching a chalk board." I heard Scott was stoked. Can anyone confirm? hey guess what>? ted leo fucking completely sucks and his band of 2 fruitcakes rock about as hard as good fucking charlotte. overrated and so incredibly lame, and his voice, as usual, sounds like scratching a chalk board. "Has anyone else noticed that there is a bonus song on itunes? Its called Vain Parade. It wasn't on my vinyl version of this or the free EP. More songs = cool." Pretty good album but probably the weakest of his most recent four. Is anyone else with the mp3s from the Touch and Go site having trouble getting the tracks to show up in the right order on an iPod? They're tagged correctly, as far as I can tell, but Fourth World War is showing up after The Sons of Cain. The more I read it, this is a weird review. I would hardly say "La Costa Brava" is the highlight of the album, as "Sons of Cain", "Who Do You Love?", "Bomb.Repeat.Bomb", "Bottle of Buckie", and "Army Bound" all seem like far better songs to me. And "Bomb.Repeat.Bomb" sounds much more like Crass or Conflict or even early Fugazi than the Hives or the White Stripes... Re: Asian Man "essentials" I forgot to score. Awesome album Has anyone else noticed that there is a bonus song on itunes? Its called Vain Parade. It wasn't on my vinyl version of this or the free EP. More songs = cool. I'd say Ted is more like a poppy Billy Bragg - especially his solo stuff, sans Pharmacists. Anyway, I have his first two albums, so I'll probably go out and pick up this and "Shake..." in the next week or so. He really is one of the best pop songwriters of his generation, and I hope I can get to see him play sometime soon. What happened w/ his scheduled show at 930? Asian Man Five "FIVE AMAZING ASIAN MAN RELEASES" So, how does Shake The Sheets and this compare to Hearts Of Oak? Because I bought that album when it came out because of the hype. I still LOVE Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone, but none of the rest of it stuck with me. The songs seemed way too long for what they were. But I do like the basics of the sound. Would I like this and/or Shake The Sheets a lot more? i agree with Shake the Sheets being perfect. some of the songs on here are wayyy too long, or at least much longer than necessary. "Bomb.Repeat.Bomb" is awesome though. Buckie is fortified tonic wine made by benedictine(spelling?..fuck it) monks in Devon, England. You can buy it easily in Ireland, Scotland and England. I also came across it in Mallorca as well while I was on holiday, best holiday of my life. Buckie is "Buckfast Tonic Wine." Check it out online. Shakes the Sheets for me was perfect. All Killer, No Filler, as the Sum 41 folks say. This was dissappointing to say the least. It's good enough for me to want more, but there are just so many missteps. "Bomb" the last four minutes oF "Lost Brigade". The tin whistle in "bottle of Buckie" is a great addition. I just want to know what Buckie is and where I can buy it. Shakes the Sheets for me was perfect. All Killer, No Filler, as the Sum 41 folks say. This was dissappointing to say the least. It's good enough for me to want more, but there are just so many missteps. "Bomb" the last four minutes oF "Lost Brigade". The tin whistle in "bottle of Buckie" is a great addition. I just want to know what Buckie is and where I can buy it. Knowledge - "A Gift Before I Go" ok, this may seem way out of place but help me out here. My preorder came this afternoon, and I've listened to it twice so far. That's enough to have an overwhelmingly positive opinion, but not enough to rank it compared to previous albums. Either way, it's an awesome album. way to answer my own question, but this is the bonus EP tracklisting It should be mentioned that the "Mo' living" ep is equally as good as the full length. Just bought it today! Great fucking record. Better than shake the sheets. BOOYA "this is below modest mouse?! blasphemy!" not as good as Shake The Sheets, but still a damn good album. my favorite song is "The Lost Brigade" I like how Interpunk wait until the very day of an album's release before they ship it to you... Plus, although I pre-ordered it for $13,50 (the bonus EP better be included), when I looked at their site today, it was priced at $12,75. Such bullshit. this is below modest mouse?! blasphemy! Start with Hearts or Shake The Sheets. Also, the Costello comparison is legit. I've been saying that for years. "throw away songs like The Unwanted Things" Never heard this guy before, whats the best album to start with? Score is for bucky. The best drink of all time. If you can drink 2 bottles of it and remember what you did the night before I salute you! nah, he's way more punk than Elvis Costello. I think the songwriter I'd most compare Ted to is Elvis Costello. Think about it: witty lyricists who write vocal-centric, punk-related but not quite punk songs. Wow, if the Pope did that I guess he really would "Bong it for Jesus!" Comparing this guy to Bob Dylan is absolutely ludicrous. Mediocre realease for Ted. But if every band could say that a cd as good as this was their worst album, music in general would be a whole lot better. I agree with the guy below me who says this album is very inconsistent... Ted goes from knocking songs out of the park to playing throw away songs like The Unwanted Things and A Bottle of Buckie. It's good, but just not as consistent and coherent as some of his earlier stuff. It has a few weak songs, and it just doesn't flow that well. Not up to the standard of his previous work, even if certain songs are abolutely awesome. Also, the cover art is atrocious. Awesome record. shoot, forgot the score. Well first off I'll say that Ted can do no wrong, so my opinion doesn't really mean anything, but I wanted to review this so I'll give my thoughts. This has some really really strong songs (Sons of Cain, Bomb. Repeat. Bomb, Bottle of Buckie, Who Do You Love?, World Stops Turning) but overall it doesn't touch Shake the Sheets, though I'm not sure anything could. It's quite a bit softer and some of the songs are in my opinion longer than necessary. So, great all in all, not quite as "punk" (except for Bomb) as Shake the Sheets so I don't like it quite as much, but still a really good cd. this is below modest mouse?! blasphemy! I listened to this album driving back to school this weekend and it really is starting to grow on me. I did not like it at first, but I really dig the songs |
