“The Brutalist Bricks” is Ted Leo & The Rx’s sixth album and their first on Matador Records (previously the band was on labels such as Lookout and Touch & Go). If you’re not familiar with Leo this is as good a place to start as any. My favorite of his will always be “The Tyranny of Distance” but “The Brutalist Bricks” is pretty great in its own right. Think Bob Mould, Joe Strummer, Billy Bragg, Phil Lynott, Jake Burns, and Elvis Costello rolled into one and injected with an unrelenting punk energy. And I know these are some big names to compare anyone too but Leo reps them and all points in between while still managing to stand on his own as an original. He does a pretty mean Danzig impersonation too (check his Misfits cover band “TV Casualty” on YouTube if you don’t believe me). I may be biased in my opinion of Leo as, like the FSS, he grew up in Jersey. But I’m pretty sure he could have come from anywhere and I’d still dig his music.
Unlike his last effort “Living With The Living”, “Brutalist Bricks” leaves me wanting more after each listen. It’s not that “Living” was bad but it was pretty long and the vinyl version came with a bunch of bonus tracks called “Mo Living” that made it even longer. Some of the best punk albums know how to use brevity to their advantage, and knocking a good half hour off their running time served Leo and crew well this time round. The Rx have never sounded better either. Between Chris Wilson’s drumming and Leo’s guitar work there’s some really great jams on here to freak out to. Leo’s the type of guy that really only needs a guitar and mic to do his thing but the Rx fill out his sound nicely this time round and prove invaluable. Highly recommended listening. And worth picking up on wax too as it sounded fantastic on the ‘ol hi-fi and still came with a download code so I could throw it on the iPod for morning commutes.
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