It can never be said that Ted Leo is complacent. Ever since his days with Washington, D.C., punk band Chisel, Leo has forged his own way through the independent music scene. Now fronting his own band, the Pharmacists, he writes and performs songs as powerful and incisive as anyone in music today.
Starting in New York punk bands Citizen’s Arrest and Animal Crackers, Leo gained only regional notoriety. He first gained national attention when he formed Chisel in 1990. Reviving a mod punk sound that had been, for the most part, dead since the days of The Kinks and The Animals, Chisel served as a precursor to such up-and-coming bands as The Mooney Suzuki, Hot Hot Heat and The Hives. After two albums released on the independent Gern Blastern label, Chisel finally broke up in 1997, leaving Leo to pursue side projects with Spinanes and the politically leaning Sin Eaters.
For the most part, though, Leo was then a solo artist, going on short tours throughout the East Coast with only his guitar at his side. In 1999, Leo recorded his first solo record on Gern Blastern along with his newly formed backing band, the Pharmacists. Instead of the pure revivalist punk rock he had produced through Chisel and Sin Eaters, Leo’s new music used a pop sensibility much akin to Elvis Costello or The Clash. This progression peaked with 2001’s Tyranny of Distances, which seemed to abandon his punk past all but completely.
It took a national tragedy to bring him back to his roots. Leo was supposed to spend Sept. 11, 2001, celebrating his birthday, but plans have a way of changing. After the attacks, Leo’s writing changed from that of pop songs to songs of confusion and dissension. The shift is quite evident in 2003’s Hearts of Oak, which deals with Leo’s turmoil over the attacks, and how something so awful could be provoked.
Of all the reaction albums of the past two years, Leo’s has proven to be the most provocative and perplexing, shifting from the angry “The Anointed One” to the escapist “Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?”
Leo and his Pharmacists will play at The Creepy Crawl on Wednesday, May 7, along with Riddle of Steel and El Guapo. Tickets are $8, and the show is open to all ages. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. So, take a break from the hellish finals week and take in a show. You will not be disappointed.
