The Trail

Issue date: 3/23/07 Section: A&E

Seeing as how both Ted Leo and Andrew Bird are heavyweights of indie rock, I thought that the best way to review the new albums from each would be to examine them through the lens of a boxing match. While my knowledge of boxing is limited to say the least, I do know the basics: men pummel each other senseless in what appears to be a lawless battle of brutality. Also, it is frowned upon to bite off the other competitor's ear.

So let us imagine Ted Leo in one corner of the ring, and Andrew Bird in the other. Do not let the apparent scrawniness of the men fool you - in heavyweight indie rock boxing, the scrawnier the better.

After stumbling out of the gate a little at the beginning with a silly noise collage, Ted Leo's new album, "Living With the Living," delivers a strong opening punch with some of Ted's trademark highly energetic power-pop. Even a glance at the song titles of the album ("Bomb. Repeat. Bomb" and "Third World War") reveal it to be unapologetically political.

Ted Leo is pissed off, and he wants us to know about it, and he does, with some overtly angry and antagonizing language towards the administration throughout the album. One of the most effective parts of Ted Leo's political lyrics is that he does not bother shrouding them behind a veil of vagueness.

The only problem with the album is that the songs with the best lyrics are often the weakest musically, especially "Bomb. Repeat. Bomb," which sounds like watered-down hardcore with non-melodic verses and loses further points for having silly sound effects at the end.

Other stylistic experiments on the album fare better. Ted and the Pharmacists drop some reggae grooves on the song "Unwanted Things," which is actually one of the best on the album.

All in all, Ted is a great pop songwriter, and the songs that let his melodic sense stretch fare the best. While it loses points for cribbing its introduction note for note from the Goo Goo Dolls' "Slide," the song "A Bottle of Buckie" gains credit by having an Irish pennywhistle solo. Luckily, the album is chock-full of such songs that are fun, cleverly arranged and lyrically intelligent. "Living With the Living" is probably Ted Leo's most consistent, and certainly one of the most enjoyable albums I have heard in a while.

Over in the other corner of the indie rock boxing ring we have Andrew Bird, the incredible multi-instrumentalist who at live shows often plays guitar, whistle and xylophone at the same time. How will Andrew fare against Ted Leo's energetic power-pop? He is the underdog in this indie rock boxing match. His songs are quiet, intricately layered and require more time to digest than Ted Leo's instantly accessible pop anthems. Well, get ready for perhaps the most astonishing upset in indie rock boxing since the time The Unicorns bit off Interpol's ear.

Continued...

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