Day After Day #78: The High Party

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4). 

The High Party (2003)

The last eight years have been an unrelenting shitshow at times, but it's easy to forget how insane the early 2000s were. From the delayed results of the 2000 presidential election (that was decided by the Supreme Court a month later) to the shock of 9/11 to the subsequent military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq, it was a pretty damn tumultuous time. 

Musically, there was a return to guitar-based rock going on, but bands like the Strokes and the White Stripes were getting a lot of the attention while some pretty impressive stuff was flying under the radar. One such example is Ted Leo, a Washington, DC-based indie rocker who previously led the mod-rock act Chisel in the mid-'90s. 

After producing for other artists and releasing a solo album in 1999, Leo formed a band called the Pharmacists and released an EP and a debut album, The Tyranny of Distance, in 2001. In addition to the punk he was known for, Leo melded in Celtic rock, pop and folk and created an incredible album that highlighted his high falsetto and his hot lead guitar chops. The album was a breath of fresh air and fortunately the jumping-off point for an impressive string of releases for Leo.

With 2003's Hearts of Oak, Leo and the Pharmacists delivered an impassioned collection of wordy, soaring, anthemic rock songs. Most of the hype went to lead single "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?", which paid tribute to two-tone ska acts like the Specials, the Selecter and the Beat, and rightly so. It's an awesome song. But the record is full of catchy rippers and a few of them highlight the state of the world at the time.

One is "The High Party," which targeted President George W. Bush's War on Terror, which expanded into Iraq about a month after Hearts of Oak was released in February 2003. Leo also references the events of September 11, which also happens to be his birthday.

"I'm looking at another day/To find that I've got nothing to say/Or I'm looking for another way/To process what happened on that birthday/And either way, if you're gonna call it art/Then there's a cup in front of you/And right away, if you're gonna play your part/You must drink it down, drink it down, drink it down."

The thought of getting involved in a perpetual war was enough to drive one to drink.

"And if there's a war/Another shitty war to fight for Babylon/It's the perfect storm in a teacup/But you must drink it down, drink it down, drink it down, drink it down/And what do you make of nights when you thought you'd make much more/Than being too drunk to turn the lights out and too tired to drink more?/And what does it take to not hear the cynics at your door/Saying it's time to turn the lights out and you want to keep it down/Keep it down, keep it down."

Add to that the amazing musicianship, from Leo's repeating riff to Chris Wilson's pounding drum work and you've got an epic protest song that only Ted Leo fans are familiar with. It's a goddamn shame, really. And the best part is it's an upbeat-sounding song even as Leo rails against the military expansion into the Middle East. 

"So I'm lifting up that poison cup/To drink a draft of propaganda/Or I'm giving up that other stuff/In hopes that it's gonna make me madder."

Leo followed up this album with another classic, 2004's Shake the Sheets (he's touring this summer to celebrate the album's 20th anniversary) and released two more albums with the Pharmacists through the end of that decade. He then teamed up with Aimee Mann to form The Both, releasing an album in 2014 and touring. Leo released a crowd-funded solo album, The Hanged Man, in 2017. He's reunited the Pharmacists for a few tours since then, and also toured with Chisel last year. 

I've had the good fortune to see Leo in concert several times, including opening for Pearl Jam in Mansfield in 2008 and seeing Chisel and the Pharmacists a few months apart in 2023 (the live clip below is from the show I saw in Somerville). He always brings a fiery and passionate approach to his live shows and to me is one of the best live acts going.