Ted Leo is Like You
July 6, 2017 9:59 AM   Subscribe

"Leo’s set that night spans his entire career, from a few rarities to his more well-known songs to new material, including tracks from The Hanged Man, the first Ted Leo album since 2010’s The Brutalist Bricks. It has been a tumultuous seven years. The Hanged Man will be released in September, but its lead single, “You’re Like Me,” drops today." At Stereogum: One of rock's best songwriters is getting back in the ring. He hopes you still care. (cw: assault, miscarriage)
posted by everybody had matching towels (27 comments total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
Can a brick be brutalist?
posted by howfar at 10:02 AM on July 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


A minute into “Me And Mia,” one of his guitar strings snaps loose....“It just means you were rocking hard,” says Blair Flicker, the 57-year-old equity lawyer who’s funding the evening.

WELL ACTUALLY it means there's probably a sharp edge on the bridge that needs to be filed down, or that you don't change guitar strings often enough, especially after getting them all sweaty and grimy.
posted by thelonius at 10:05 AM on July 6, 2017 [4 favorites]


I love Ted, and had no idea his album was dropping soon. Thanks for posting this!
posted by holborne at 10:08 AM on July 6, 2017 [2 favorites]


Yeah, I'm usually an overly aggressive and frequently hamfisted guitarist, but I actually can't remember the last time I broke a string. I wear bits of my guitars off more frequently than I break strings.
posted by howfar at 10:08 AM on July 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


Ted Leo once commented on one of my MYSPACE pictures and it made me so happy. Although I am kinda sad that there's no love for PVD on the tour. Every time I tried to see him in Boston, things never went well for me...
posted by Ruki at 10:15 AM on July 6, 2017


I was wondering where all the rude boys went
posted by glaucon at 10:20 AM on July 6, 2017 [2 favorites]


He hasn't been gone *that* long.
posted by maryr at 10:34 AM on July 6, 2017


YASSSSSSS this is what I needed. Thank you!!!!!!
posted by notsnot at 11:00 AM on July 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


Anyone whose work includes namechecking the Higsons is alright by me.
posted by tommasz at 11:05 AM on July 6, 2017


This is great. I'm still kinda bummed I couldn't put together the scratch for his Kickstarter to get him to write a customized song. Been a Ted Leo fan since the Chisel days -- seen him live a half-dozen times or more, shared a bottle of Jameson with him. He's never shied away from personal and difficult subjects in his songs.

If you're not familiar, I'd recommend starting with Hearts of Oak, go backwards to Tyranny of Distance, then go forward in time.
posted by penduluum at 11:11 AM on July 6, 2017 [7 favorites]


I love love love Ted Leo. I am happy to note that in addition to seeing him play live, I have also attended two events wherein he gave readings from The Silmarillion, and even seen him pay tribute to David Bowie.
posted by uberchet at 11:25 AM on July 6, 2017 [2 favorites]


A few months ago I covered "Bridges, Squares" for my Cover of the Week series and tagged him in it. And he responded. Ted is good people and I'm sorry he's been through all this.
posted by pxe2000 at 11:35 AM on July 6, 2017 [2 favorites]


If you're not familiar, I'd recommend starting with Hearts of Oak, go backwards to Tyranny of Distance, then go forward in time.

This is excellent advice.
posted by Vek at 11:53 AM on July 6, 2017 [3 favorites]


I love his "Since U Been Gone" cover. When I first heard it, I immediately went and played "Since U Been Gone" and then "Maps" and, yep. (You'll hear what I mean.)
posted by daisy55 at 12:20 PM on July 6, 2017 [3 favorites]


Yay! Cannot wait.

(Ted Leo is the only show in my life I have ever had to leave because it was too loud... it was insane)
posted by Cosine at 12:27 PM on July 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


Mildly bummed to note that his two Texas dates do not include Houston, but I got friends in Austin. I can go there.
posted by uberchet at 12:59 PM on July 6, 2017


WELL ACTUALLY it means there's probably a sharp edge on the bridge that needs to be filed down, or that you don't change guitar strings often enough, especially after getting them all sweaty and grimy.
posted by thelonius at 1:05 PM on July 6
[3 favorites +] [!]


Um excuse you for thinking you know more about rock than an equity lawyer.
posted by ZaphodB at 1:19 PM on July 6, 2017 [2 favorites]


I wasn't familiar with Ted Leo at all, so thanks for this. I'm enjoying his stuff so far--I listened as I read the article. And wow, what an article. He's not had an easy go of it, from childhood to adulthood.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 2:55 PM on July 6, 2017


I think the song that really got me into Ted Leo was Timorous Me. Electric-guitar drive, lyrically dense, a rich and vivid story with this song structure that was just SO FUCKING PATIENT, waiting, waiting, waiting, before blasting off full steam - eventually.
posted by entropone at 3:01 PM on July 6, 2017 [2 favorites]


or come to find that loving is labor
labor's life
and life's forever
posted by hototogisu at 6:45 PM on July 6, 2017 [3 favorites]


It's almost cliched to say so at this point, but I can vouch that he actually is a really nice guy.

Maybe it was the similar upbringing (minus the awful parts mentioned in this article), but I find myself coming back to Ted's music more than any other artist. I think I've seen him play live 6 times at this point? It's incredible how much he energy and emotion he pours into every performance. I wish him nothing but the best.
posted by schmod at 7:32 PM on July 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


Hey everybody had matching towels: thank you so much for posting this. I probably would have missed it and ... this is something I needed to experience right now.
posted by penduluum at 7:34 PM on July 6, 2017 [2 favorites]


Maybe it was the similar upbringing (minus the awful parts mentioned in this article), but I find myself coming back to Ted's music more than any other artist.
It's funny: my upbringing is totally not similar to his, but I think we have a similar musical pedigree, and I think that's why I love his music so much. I can't think of too many other artists whose musical DNA is equal parts DC hardcore, the Clash, Irish folk music, and their parents' '70s soul albums. Anyway, I love Ted Leo a lot. I'm sorry to hear that he's had such a hard time of it recently (and of course in the past), but I'm really happy that he's putting out new music.

I am also excited about Kesha's new song. I contain multitudes!
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:04 PM on July 6, 2017 [2 favorites]


It's a great article and a heavy story. I saw him a half dozen times way back in the early 2000s and he was fantastic. The Tyranny of Distance is still a desert island disc for me.
posted by saul wright at 6:18 AM on July 7, 2017


The best part of seeing Ted Leo live is that it's the same length as any other show, but he can fit every single song he's ever recorded into it.
posted by padraigin at 7:04 AM on July 7, 2017 [2 favorites]


Yeah - a friend of mine opened for him on a tour, and confirms that Ted is friendly, funny, intelligent, charming, attentive, and great all the time.
posted by entropone at 8:32 AM on July 7, 2017 [1 favorite]


I also needed to read this right now. Thank you. I saw him play at Matador at 21. It's unfortunate things didn't work out with them. And yeah, so unfortunate that he and Jodi went through everything they have, but I'm so glad he chose to talk about it.
posted by limeonaire at 12:47 PM on July 7, 2017


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