Album Details

• Artist: Ted Leo & The Pharmacists
• EP:
Rapid Response
• Label: Touch and Go
• Year of Release: 2008
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: kev_stev on 2008-09-20

Ted Leo is an all-around admirable guy.  He leads the indie-pop band, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, is an outspoken advocate of veganism, and remains politically conscious without imposing his views on his fans.  He is also righteous.  About to embark on tour with indie-punk rockers, Against Me!, Ted Leo and his band reflected on the recent violence at the Republican National Convention and realized the necessity of taking action.  "Real people were hurt in St. Paul, and real people have bills to pay, and real people need funding to continue their good works," said Leo.

The band opted to contribute to those injured at the convention by releasing a four song EP, hurriedly recorded in a basement in New Jersey and aptly titled "Rapid Response."  All of the sales from the album go to the support of true journalism, truth telling, and community service, via Democracy Now! and Food not Bombs, according to Ted Leo's website.  Of the EP, Leo said: "We (the band and I) were all feeling these events as deeply as we could from our 1200 mile remove, and so as not to feel entirely powerless, and in an attempt to contribute something to that continuation of those good works, we wrote a song and recorded it, along with another new one we'd already been working on that's pertinent to election time politics, and two covers we enjoy and that also have timely sentiments.

For Ted Leo fans, this release is an essential, containing two new songs and two covers of Cock Sparrer and Amebix.  Rapid Response is glimmering indie-pop with lo-fi production, sounding like Leo from his early days as a solo artist.  For prospective fans, however, this may not be the best place to start, as Leo openly admits that the album's haste is manifest in its production.  Rapid Response does not contain the superb production quality or excessive compression commonly found in pop music because Leo's intent of the release was to get his music out to the public as quickly as possible.  But the music is still edgy indie-pop that is candid and biting, and somehow, more than anything, fun.  Rapid Response is just another indication that Ted Leo can do no wrong-basically, he is just an all-around admirable guy.

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