MJ Lenderman
Manning Fireworks
**** out of *****
The Asheville, NC based singer/songwriter/guitarist MJ Lenderman has worked with a host of talented alt-country artists (Wednesday, Waxahatchee) but has really been finding his way with his own voice and solo playing. Manning Fireworks, is his next step on the road to something special as he mixes dark humor, languid guitar lines, country twang and splashes of rock into his slacker tunes.
The slow country waltzing of the title track opens the record as a violin strums while Lenderman's voice cracks as he sings about toxic masculinity and growing up to be jokes and caricatures. MJ's lyrics constantly toss off the bleak and mundane while searching for some higher meaning, "Wristwatch" takes an easy if restrained beat, twangs it up and seems to be searching for truth in a material world while not really being invested in it at all.
The slacker/laconic country hangover groove of "Joker Lips" uses pedal steel expertly, while "Rudolph" deploys popping drums, great guitar lines, a layered solo and lyrics about roadkill that could be symbolic or literal. The literal takes over for the weepy "Rip Torn" which talks about passing out in your Lucky Charms and resisting the urge to puke with a slow violin backing.
When Lenderman is at his best he recalls Neil Young such as on the midlife crisis of "She's Leaving You" with catchy quirkiness as the riffs chug ahead and the fuzzy stomping of "On My Knees" which growls and pumps but also smirks and shakes in fear. Lenderman is no rock star, he is deflecting the calamities and testing trials of life with inside jokes and non-sequiturs. This keeps things from truly reaching impressive heights on Manning Fireworks as Lenderman is still trying to balance out his songwriting style that can truly capture the mundane, joy, darkness, humor, and spirituality that connects us all.
This is summed up best in the album closing "Bark at the Moon" that feels like a major statement to start with a lopping groove and a relationship in tatters, but devolves into a less than interesting distortion finale that feels more of a tacked on "why not?" afterthought then a musical statement. It wraps up a solid record that just misses out on greatness as Lenderman continues his evolution.
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