Grade: B+ | Ted Leo has never been short on anything – not on his overtly political views that work their way into every track, not on his flowing vocals that might be the most expressive in contemporary rock’n’roll, and unfortunately not on his tracks’ lengths.

Two out of three ain’t bad.

On his fifth LP with The Pharmacists, Leo falls back into his routine of allowing his songs to drag on for upwards of five, six and sometimes seven minutes. And while those lengthy anthems of blazing guitars and Leftist beliefs are as catchy as they are inspiring, punk-rooted rallying cries are better served in short packages.

Which would be even more trying if the 15 tracks on “Living With the Living,” and the five songs on its accompanying bonus EP, weren’t – for lack of clever parlance – so good. Leo’s vocals are somehow even more expressive than ever before, effortlessly switching from smooth falsettos, to ragged-throated shouts and back to the occasional deeply brooding baritone, all the time, using his fluctuating voice to levy anti-war tales such as the marching “Bomb.Repeat.Bomb.,” the grooving “The Lost Brigade” or the forewarning “Army Bound.”

Leo may be as predictable as…say…a long-winded-but-impressively-aggressive campaign debate; but those kind of no-holds-barred quarrels are what democracy – or in this case, unadulterated guitar rock – is all about.