Ted Leo & The Pharmacists have reached the “extended Wikipedia page” point in their careers, unofficially making them indie-famous. Ted and his unlicensed pill pushers have taken their energetic, no-frills power-pop aesthetic and pushed their way into indie’s inner circle. But, to put it bluntly, The Brutalist Bricks is one they probably shouldn’t have shipped out of the studio. Now, I’m a power-pop kool-aid drinker. The New Pornographers and Love is All deliver the same no-frills energy, while using that aesthetic to channel joyful jump-around tunes. But, by-and-large, Ted Leo uses that energy to toggle between mediocrity and pure tedium.

Leo too often comes off like Contemporary Christian music. There’s an oddly specific melodic pattern for these “cool” Christians bands who try get the kids into worshipping some Lord. However Leo does it, he comes off dull and emptily enthusiastic. Power-pop is fairly standard issue in fundamentals. The guitars poke and prod at jumpy tempos, while the drums and bass spastically play catch up. Sometimes Ted dials it down, sometimes he revs it up. Dialed down Ted is largely dull and unassuming. Revved up Ted is hellacious, like on “The Stick” or “Gimme the Wire.” That would be Ted Leo & The Pharmacists at their most annoying; instead of their surges being joyous outbursts, they’re needles rapidly jabbing you from all different directions. The music is somehow reminiscent of trying to eat at a restaurant and having a toddler shrieking in the booth next you. Leo refrains from shrieking or being to abrasive, but the manner in which he conjures his energy comes out all wrong. Revved up Ted is an automatic ‘skip’ on iTunes.

The greater lot of Brutalist’s songs are a frustrating bunch, occupying the middle ground between dialed- down Ted and revved up Ted. The opener, “The Mighty Sparrow” is an excellent example. The track spends half of its two-and-a-half minute runtime being dull faux-Christian power-pop, and the other half being legitimately catchy. Those half-song flashes are signs of what makes Ted Leo intriguing, but they don’t carry nearly enough weight to buoy the album. Leo has demonstrated his abilities as a talented power-pop performer in the past, but on Brutalist, they are ridiculously muddled beneath the rubbish.

Listening to the album play out, the next song always comes with the promise of a turnaround. Partly because it’s Ted Leo, and partly because the good parts on songs like “The Mighty Sparrow” are hard to ignore. “Bottle in a Cork” is midway through the album, and though it’s flawed, it’s strong enough to seem to finally signal a turning point in the quality of the album. Then a few songs later, “Where Was My Brain?” takes a nosedive back into the atrocious. The song is hyped up on bad adrenaline and it becomes clear that Leo is in too deep to save this thing now. It is around this song that optimism about the album’s direction is replaced with the expectation of failure. In this regard, Ted begins to perform to expectations. With “Gimme the Wire” setting up the closer, the album toes the line of mediocrity.

At the end of it all, the album is a little bit confounding. Ted Leo certainly isn’t trying to be a nuisance; from my perspective, he seems very earnest in his songwriting and aesthetic. In no way does he come off as a goofball or anything less than professional. It’s just that Leo’s songs zig when they should zag, seeing as how power-pop is fairly standardized in what works and what doesn’t. The genre isn’t going to blow you away with its textures or artsy angles. Love is All, for instance, briefly spotlight a few different instruments to enhance a song, but mainly, their music kicks ass by being undeniably catchy. Love is All doesn’t try to pull the wool of the listener’s eyes with an array of tricks; they just belt songs out and they’re great at it. Ted Leo is very similar. His presentation offers nothing except raw surface value. If you’re an art rock band, pure surface value means you’re not doing a very good job, but if you’re a power-pop band, surface value is the entire gig. The bottom line is that on The Brutalist Bricks, Ted Leo’s surface value is severely lacking, wallowing in annoyances. The album short-changes its strengths and ultimately becomes too grating to hold value of any kind.

Track List:
1. The Mighty Sparrow
2. Mourning in America
3. Ativan Eyes
4. Even Heroes Have to Die
5. The Stick
6. Bottled in Cork
7. Woke Up Near Chelsea
8. One Polaroid Day
9. Where Was My Brain?
10. Bartolomeo and the Buzzing of Bees
11. Tuberculoids Arrive in Hop
12. Gimme the Wire
13. Last Days