Ted Leo and The Pharmacists? have always been reminiscent of what Paul Weller was doing with The Jam? 20 years earlier. It isn't easy writing hooky, near anthemic, songs without going right for the hard sell. Both have an uncanny knack to inject heartfelt ear-to-the-ground social consciousness with personal observations on love and life, the kind of stuff that makes heroes out of working class punk kids. On The Brutalist Bricks, TL&P's fifth proper full length, Ted Leo finds himself back in fine form, after a slight misstep with 2007's Living With The Living. While he might sound a bit more wistful on a few tracks here (see Bottled In Cork, or Bartolomeo And The Buzzing Of Bees) then on albums past , the old Leo fervor is here in spades. The Mighty Sparrow might be the bands most powerful leadoff track ever, while singles Mourning In America and Even Heroes Have To Die carry on the intensity TL&P have built their profound reputation around. As solid a release as ever, Leo has become this generations' go-to rock intellectual, if not it's moral barometer. Just like Weller before him.