Street Pharmacists

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists "A Bottle Of Buckie"

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You get what you expect from Ted Leo. Usually you expect tightly wound pop rock hymns that always go on just a little bit longer than they probably should. You expect song writing that's a cross between traditional Irish drinking songs and the Buzzcocks early catalogue. You expect sort of an ADD approach to guitar playing, and the refusal for any song to just sit still. As expected, all of this can be found on Ted Leo & The Pharmacist's latest Living With The Living.

It's a hit or miss collection of songs, the brightest spots being when Leo and his gang go the full frontal attack method of straight ahead rock ("La Costa Brava", "The Unwanted Things"), the darker moments being when Leo gets political and conceptual ("Bomb Repeat Bomb", a song so inane that it's the only one I deleted completely from my iTunes). But as expected, most of the record is fun enough to make you bounce around yr living room with the headphones on. Just watch out you don't step on your pets. They don't understand rock n roll like you do.