For all of the strength and vitality inherent in rock ‘n’ roll, it’s a surprisingly fragile entity. In fact, it’s gone through several long spells of dreary, silent death. Sometimes it kills itself, and other times it’s done in by perennial evils like excess, complacency and loss of urgency. Luckily, it has always been resurrected by guitar-slinging visionaries waiting in the wings, but these days such saviors are increasingly few and far between. This all sounds really depressing, but there is hope on the way! And it’s from … New Jersey?

Enter Ted Leo, a lanky punk rock singer/ songwriter with a giant vocabulary and a head full of killer melodies, who cut his teeth in the 90s with D.C. mod-revivalists Chisel. Last Friday night at the Middle East, Leo and his backing band the Pharmacists rocked with refreshing conviction. Dressed in a black button-down shirt and toting a Gibson hollow body emblazoned with the words ‘Anti War,’ Leo flailed and jumped across the stage with enough manic showmanship to conjure images of the late Joe Strummer.

While capable of delivering some hard driving, straight ahead rock ‘n’ roll, Leo also has a real gift for pop songwriting that is obvious after listening to his latest album, Hearts of Oak. Elements of Elvis Costello blend with occasional nods to the Pogues and Thin Lizzy, as well as a general spirit Leo seems to have borrowed from late 70s Two Tone bands the Specials and the English Beat. It’s from these neo-ska outfits that the inspiration comes for ‘Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?,’ a standout on the new album and a showstopper on Friday night.

In the song, Leo pines for the social consciousness and danceable rhythms that characterized the Two Tone sound. As the crowd sang along with the chorus that name checks Specials’ members Terry Hall and Jerry Dammers, it became apparent that Leo and company are the logical heirs to the rebel rock tradition born in 60’s Jamaica and later co-opted by British punks like the Clash.

While the Pharmacists’ mastery of a variety of styles ranging from reggae to Celtic-punk gives Leo an impressive array of influences to draw from, it’s really his voice that makes the overall sound so dynamic. His effortless switching between passionate wails and towering falsettos on songs like ‘Biomusicology’ and ‘Timorous Me’ adds to the infectiousness of his melodies. On several of the slower songs, Leo was even joined on stage by a violin player who underscored the subtle Irish influence prevalent in much of his work.

The highlight of the show came during the encore, where a solo Leo turned in a moving performance of the Pogues’ classic ‘Dirty Old Town.’ The song’s combination of post-industrial despair and hopeful romanticism was well suited for Leo’s voice, especially since many of his own songs take on similar themes of average people struggling to make sense of the worlds they inhabit. Above all, Leo raises hopes that passion and soul aren’t extinct. While everyone else seems content to lay his or her flowers on rock’s grave, here is a man clawing at the dirt with all his might.