MJ Lenderman - Manning Fireworks ( 2024 )

      Thought I'd do a series of posts on some of my favorite albums of 2024 before the 2025 releases hit. The artist who really blindsided me last year was MJ Lenderman. I was completely unfamiliar with him despite the fact Manning Fireworks is his fifth album and he is also the guitarist for the band Wednesday, whose album Rat Saw God was one of my favorites of 2023. Lenderman is the perfect combination of Jason Molina, Mark Linkous, Neil Young, and Stephen Malkmus' clever, slacker lyrics . So, ground zero of my wheelhouse. 

     I could write an entire post consisting of the best lyrics on Manning Fireworks. I won't, but I could. "Kahlua shooter, D.U.I. scooter" is a classic, though. Who am I kidding? This is mostly going to be about his self-deprecating, autobiographical lyrics. But kudos as well to his Crazy Horse guitar playing and laid back, tossed off vocal style. The best example of what I'm on about is the track, "On My Knees". Oddly, it starts out with a drum pattern that sounds like the intro to "Supersonic" by Oasis. Then the Neil Young guitar sound comes in. The lyrical highlights include; "goin' on vacation brings out the worst in everyone", "every day is a miracle, not to mention a threat", "Travolta's bald head", and "Is it the quiet hiss of a midnight piss". 

     Lenderman broke through with the song, "Wristwatch". The opening line, "So you say I've got a funny face, it makes me money" is a nod to Quiet Riot / Slade. But the real hook is the chorus about his wristwatch. The first time through the lyric is "I got a beach home up in Buffalo and a wristwatch that's a compass and a cell phone. And a wristwatch that tells me you're all alone". Then he switches it up the second time through, "I've got a houseboat docked at the Himbo Dome and a wristwatch that's a pocket knife and a megaphone. And a wristwatch that tells me I'm on my own". 

     The first two tracks are very Sparklehorse adjacent. The title track features the lines; "One of these days you'll kill a man for asking a question you don't understand", "You've opened the Bible in a public place. You've opened the Bible to the very first page", and "You once was a baby, and now a jerk. Standing close to the pyre, Manning Fireworks". Besides the "D.U.I. shooter" line, "Joker Lips" features such lyrics as; "Please don't laugh. Only half of what I said was a joke. Every Catholic knows he could have been Pope" and "This morning wants to kill me". Another standout track, "Rudolph" references how Lenderman almost went into the seminary when he was younger (and Rudolph the Red-nosed reindeer and Lightning McQueen). Then there's the tragi-comic "She's Leaving You". "It falls apart, we all got work to do. It gets dark, we all got work to do". There are literally no bad tracks on Manning Fireworks. I don't care what Anthony Fantano says. Peace.