RECOMMENDED
Everyone’s favorite rabble-rousing punk rocker is back with a fresh stock of anthematic ammo; “Living With the Living” is the fifth full-length album (and first with Chicago’s Touch and Go Records) from dissenting rockers Ted Leo and The Pharmacists. Leo’s penchant for melding different genres is strikingly disparate on the new release, which was recorded with Fugazi’s Brendan Canty. “The Unwanted Things” falls firmly into reggae territory, the Celtic-tinged “A Bottle of Buckie” is pure Pogue-folk and Leo’s talents for inspired pop inform the lead single, “Sons of Cain.” Perhaps the most incendiary component of “Living” is the aptly named, “Bomb, Repeat Bomb,” a thundering distortion reminiscent of east-coast hardcore. Stabbing through the track is a strident staccato commentary on war from afar. Welding his trademark literary wit with his impressive Gibson dexterity, Leo—once again—defiantly calls bullshit on the status quo. (K. Tighe)
Friday, October 12 at Metro
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