Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - "The Tyranny of Distance" with Bryce Taylor Rudow

In this episode, we take a deep dive into The Tyranny of Distance, the 2001 album from Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. Leo arrived in DC after playing in New York hardcore bands like Citizens Arrest and forming Chisel at the University of Notre Dame in 1990. Chisel later relocated to the District, toured with Fugazi and Velocity Girl, and released two albums on Gern Blandsten before breaking up in 1997. Leo then worked largely alone, releasing tej leo(?), Rx / pharmacists in 1999 and the Treble in Trouble EP in 2000, before assembling a rotating cast of DC musicians for his first full-band album. Recorded from February 17 to March 3, 2001 at National Recording Studio, a facility owned by Trans Am, The Tyranny of Distance was produced by Fugazi’s Brendan Canty and engineered by Seb Thomson. Contributors included James Canty of Nation of Ulysses and the Make-Up, Amy Domingues of Tsunami, and Leo’s brother Danny. The album arrived on June 19, 2001 on Lookout! Records, and in 2009 Pitchfork ranked it 120th on its list of the decade’s best albums. In this episode, we’re joined by Bryce Rudow, a DC native and music journalist whose work includes All Things Go and Brightest Young Things, and who helps lead the DC Music Journalist Alliance. Bryce digs into the record’s ties to Fugazi and the Dismemberment Plan, the 1990s alternative radio that surrounded it, the many kinds of distance running through its lyrics, and a guitar pedal that links Ted Leo to Incubus and Turnstile. Great conversation, this episode is not to be missed. Go Further: The Tyranny of Distance on Dischord Ted Leo DC Music Journalist Alliance Follow Us: Social media: @dcrockpod Email: dcrockpod@gmail.com Hosts: Philip Basnight - Broke Royals Alex Vidales - Pilot Waves Podcast Artwork by Rebecca Basnight