can only be sad for so long about the state of the nation. as usual, when times are hard it’s the perfect time to turn to my old friend rock and roll.

ted leo & the pharmacists – shake the sheets – 5 stars

ted leo’s live show at the el rey last friday – 5 stars

the man is unstoppable and nearly unbeatable. sure, i won’t deny i’m slightly less excited about the new album than i wish i could be, but that’s only because i set my expectations impossibly high. shake the sheets is a little stripped down, which works great for the songs there, but i was a little sad to see a less full and fleshed out sound like the bigger-sounding hits from the past two albums (no strings at all on this album? why, ted? why?). i had an idea in my head of a new disc with a whole album worth of songs the calibur of my favorite ted leo tunes like ‘timorous me’ and ‘where have all the rude boys gone?’, but in reality this one is just as good as the past few i love. solid end to end, with at least 4 amazing tracks to add to the live set for maximum impact. ‘me and mia’, ‘little dawn’, ‘counting down the hours’? trust me, this stuff may be more straightforward but they belt out these songs with just as much energy as any of the old stuff, and you can hear that same energy on the album.

and another note on the live show: closing the encore with a furious cover of stiff little fingers’ suspect device was a brilliant move guys. i hadn’t even heard that song before — i’m not as punk as one might think — and your version floored me. wow. just wow.

(ps: if anyone finds a recording of this cover PLEASE send it to me. luckily the original is equally good.)

the black keys – rubber factory – 4 stars

on a ‘new band alert’ side, i had never heard of the black keys until about two months ago when i saw their video for 10am automatic online. i was instantly hooked on the reverb-bluesy goodness of that track and the rest of the album i found it on. i haven’t picked up anything else this year that has caused more volume-knob-cranking and steering-wheel-pounding on late night drives home than this, nor will i. rock this like crazy even if it’s just a simple two dudes with the blues and some honest lyrical confessions.

channels – open – 3 stars

channels live show at spaceland two weeks ago – 3 stars

and finally on the ‘new band of guy from favorite old band that hopefully will grow into themselves in their new form and be equally good, eventually’ side, we have channels. the show and the EP both left me with the same impression. this is a guy (j robbins if you weren’t following) whose older work i love. this is his new band that is trying something a little different and i’m still deciding if the problem is that it isn’t as good, i just wish it was more of the old band, or if the new band has equal potential but just hasn’t hit their stride yet. ‘chivareee’ is a killer song most reminiscent of burning airlines, and the rest are decent but may not have the impact or staying power of a ‘scissoring’ or a ‘savory’. nevertheless, i have their back and hope they keep at it.