Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
The Brutalist Bricks
(Matador)

Ted Leo’s latest release is a shot of crowd-pleasing punk with reggae and folk overtones. First track and likely single “The Mighty Sparrow” gets matters off to a rollicking start, and from there it’s off to the races with one crisply strummed number after another. Acoustic guitars, when not competing with the distorted electrics, dominate the mix and offer compelling hooks and progressions. If there’s a down side to the songs’ consistent anthem-like nature, it’s that they often fly by without leaving much of a mark. However, Leo does take the time to lob his audience a few curveballs. The experimental “Tuberculoids Arrive in Hop” starts like a folk ballad before adding in falsetto vocal harmonies, ambient sounds and plinking guitar noise. Interesting, but at only two minutes and 25 seconds, it’s gone before it can really branch out. Here’s hoping Leo and company’s next album showcases more of their wild tendencies —Michael Cimaomo

Patty Larkin
25
(Signature Sounds)

Patty Larkin has been touring for a quarter of a century. To mark this, she’s mined 25 love songs from her back list, recorded a double-disc unplugged CD, and invited friends such as Greg Brown, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Shawn Colvin, John Gorka, Suzanne Vega and Cheryl Wheeler to join in. Parts of disc one are reminiscent of Joni Mitchell’s Heijira with splashes of Bonnie Raitt, and the latter part of disc two recovers passion from Larkin’s early days.

There are too many moody mid-tempo tracks and the project would have been crisper as one culled disc—then again, a half-good Patty Larkin release is twice as good as most of what’s out there. Larkin saved her classic “I’m Fine” for the final track, and hearing it again will make you shout, “You sure are, Patty!” Catch her and Dar Williams at the Academy of Music on April 25. —Rob Weir

Hot Chip
One Life Stand
(Astralwerks)

Hot Chip’s latest album is the band’s most consistent yet. But while One Life Stand avoids the stylistic schizophrenia and overweening cleverness that marred previous releases, it also lacks any of the band’s classic singles like “Ready for the Floor” and “Over and Over.” Instead it delivers an accomplished sequence of midtempo love songs full of manicured electronic beats, warm vocals and processed steel drums. It resembles nothing so much as an utterly sincere Pet Shop Boys album. The title track offers a heartfelt paean to monogamy, pledging “I only want to be your one life stand.” The anthemic gay rights song “Brothers” confidently segues from a ballad into a low-key club track.

Perversely, Hot Chip save their best song for last: “Take It In” delivers a surging melody and transcendent hook, ending this modest album with a much-needed dose of euphoric release.  —Jeff Jackson