Living with the Living

Ted Leo is kind of an anomaly; not only does he draw most of his sound from punk, a genre that has beaten itself into the ground one hundred times over, but he makes incredibly catchy songs with so much meaning. On Living with the Living, Leo offers a collection of some of his best songs to date.

Living with the Living comes storming out of the gates with a speedy drum line and an incredibly catchy guitar lead on "Sons of Cain." It has a very cool build up after the first verse when the bass kicks in and backs up Leo's signature roller coaster-like vocal melody. "Who Do You Love," another excellent track, has quite possibly the best guitar riff on the album. The riff in the verse is a simple chord progression with standard barre chords, however the clever rhythm makes it very memorable and yet again, extremely catchy.

Ted Leo also takes a moment to break it down with some reggae grooves on "Unwanted Things." It is a pretty standard reggae song with lots of wah pedal and some well placed harmonizing. "A Bottle of Buckies," an ode to an old friend, is by far the most endearing song on the album, with heartfelt lines such as, "When someone said to run from that bitter parade/ But I knew what you would do and I decided to stay/ And I knew no one ever got the better of me and you," and a powerful crescendo between the second chorus and bridge.

Other than "Bomb. Repeat. Bomb," a song that shares many similarities with Big Black's "The Power of Independent Trucking" and requires a few listens to fully enjoy, this is a very well written album with a plethora of interesting guitar riffs and melodies, as well as a ton of excellent sing-along choruses. Ted Leo is the most creative songwriter around and his latest album, Living with the Living, is a testament to his brilliance.