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Sep 05, 2024 Web Exclusive By Mark Moody

Asheville’s MJ Lenderman knows innately what Sir Elton John let us in on some four decades back. Namely, that sad songs say so much. Part time member of Wednesday and also in high demand as a collaborator (see Waxahatchee’s Tigers Blood of earlier this year), Lenderman here on Manning Fireworks foregoes direct humor in favor of slyer (and starker) truths. Look no further than the opening notes and lines of the first up title track. With a rare acoustic guitar lead that favors Jimmy Rodgers’ “Waiting on a Train” more so than his electric guitar heroes, Lenderman poetically colors the proceedings early on: “Birds against a heavy wind, that wins in the end.”

After the left field success of his preceding Boat Songs, Lenderman seems to have settled into a comfortable groove. His self-titled debut bordered on excess, while the follow-up, Ghost of Your Guitar Solo, served up mere snippets of ideas. Boat Songs and Manning Fireworks are fully realized and compact works. Disregarding the final six minutes of appropriately fading feedback at the end of the album, Lenderman’s stock in trade is the three- to four-minute latter-day heartbreaker.

Perhaps the pinnacle of Lenderman nailing the crossroads of well established longing with a more modern lens, “Wristwatch” is a slow to simmer classic. Turning the object of the song (an Apple Watch with the Find People setting on) into a metaphor for abject loneliness is a nifty and tearjerking trick. While the drum machine kick of the otherwise languid “You Don’t Know the Shape I’m In” contains the hangdog line that sums up Lenderman’s ethos best: “We sat under a half mast McDonald’s flag.” Playing further to his strengths, “On My Knees” pays tribute to the ragged fizzle of Neil Young’s “Powderfinger” in far less time with no less impact.

Though Manning Fireworks’ focus may be on longing and loneliness, Lenderman fans are still rewarded with a myriad of lyrical couplets to marvel at and more than a fair share of name drops. A little shade is thrown Eric Clapton’s way on “She’s Leaving You” and Ozzy Osbourne gets a referential call out on the playful closer, “Bark At the Moon.” With maybe a nod more of classic country influence (“Manning Fireworks,” “Rip Torn”), the album still provides for tidily contained trash barrel fire soloing on tracks like the rough shod “Rudolph.” A perfect and more mature follow-up to Boat Songs, Manning Fireworks’ depths provide the listener with room for endless introspection. (www.mjlenderman.com)

Author rating: 8.5/10