2003 : 30 "Hearts of Oak" by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

---

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists was one of those acts that everyone was talking about before I ever heard them. When I say "everyone" in 2003, I mean everyone on Live Journal and the blogs I was reading at the time. There was so much blog hype about the Hearts of Oak album, I thought it could not be as good as everyone said. It was not what everyone said it was: it was better. It has what all my favorite rock acts of this decade have: a straight-ahead approach to music, just enough production, and a little sense of humor. Ted Leo is proof to me that there always going to be a new rock act that will catch my attention. As often as I think there is no new rock left, there is always a little more. That is reason enough to listen to Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. —Rich Thomas Listen: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists >> "Hearts of Oak"