SOW: Hearts of Oak by Ted Leo and The Pharmacists

September 19, 2003 | 1 Comments

The Artist: Ted Leo and The Pharmacists
The Song: Hearts of Oak
The Album: Hearts of Oak
Released 2003

It’s funny how iTunes works at times. It seems like it favors certain artists and somtimes it’s as if it can feel my moods. It’s strange. I’ve been really busy, and while there are lots of good new tunes out there I just haven’t had time to really listen to much. So, not knowing what to choose for this week’s song, I put iTunes on shuffle and let it pick for me.

What came up was “Hearts of Oak” the title track from one of my favorite albums this year, and one that’d I considered using for a previous week’s song. Funny how that worked out.

I’ll be honest and tell you that until the release of Hearts of Oak I’d only had limited exposure to Ted Leo & The Pharmacists and none to any of Ted’s previous work. I heard them but hadn’t really had much chance to listen to them. After a few times through I was bummed I’d not listened to them sooner. I’m now a big fan.

Hearts of Oak is a great album, one of those that has incredible staying power. The songs are timeless and very appealing to a wide audience. The sound is sort of 70’s or early 80’s punk refined. They remind me a whole lot of one of my favorite bands of all time, The Jam. Ted’s voice has lots in common, to my ear any way, with Paul Weller and maybe Elvis Costello, and that is no mean feat. His vocal style ranks up there with the best around.

Give it a listen. This is a track off one of the best albums to come out this year, I’m sure you’ll like it.

Recommended if you like: The Jam, Elvis Costello, Radiohead, The Style Council, Idlewild, Squeeze

Filed under: Song of The Week