Ted Leo and the Pharmacists play punk rock, I guess. Good, loud, epic punk rock that is somehow too smart to just be lumped in with all of the leather jacket-clad anarcho-punks wishing for Crass’ return or that Greg Ginn and Henry Rollins would play nice with each other.  Instead, this is spirited punk rock which indebts itself to some 90s indie rock, some noisier arty rock and even big, beautiful swatches of power pop.

Brutalism Bricks, Leo’s latest album is all of those things and still more.  If anything this is a roadmap for the modern indie rocker that doesn’t think that the sun rises and sets in Ben Gibbard and Conner Oberst’s pants but respects themselves too much to just play Slint-sounding tunes. This is solid rock and roll that is just as eager to play nice as it is to throw a fit.

The beauty of The Brutalist Bricks is that it let’s all of those often disparate musical moments sit side by side and they all work due to the superhuman talents of Leo and company. A lesser band wouldn’t be album to pull off the laid back and solid groove of “One Polaroid a Day” and immediately follow it up with the old school punk stomp of “Where Was My Brain” but here it makes perfect sense.

This is usually the part where I try to sum up why an album was good or what kind of listeners would enjoy the album, but I’m not going to try to. What I will say is this: if you like your rock and roll with a pulse, a brain and a tremendous amount of heart, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists’ The Brutalist Bricks is for you. If this record isn’t for you, it’s because you lack a pulse, a brain and a heart. I don’t know who can help you if that’s the case. Maybe a walk down the Yellow Brick Road is in order.