Hello Reader,
Welcome back. It’s been a couple of weeks since my last review. I hope you’ve been well.
Today we’re going to delve into Asheville, NC native Jake Lenderman. The singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has been creating under the initials of his first and middle name and last name, MJ Lenderman. For the past couple of years, he’s been on the indie radar for his awesome solo project 2022 release Boat Songs, and then the band he’s played since 2020, Wednesday‘s critically acclaimed 2023 release, Rat Saw God. That release saw widespread acclaim and placement within the 84th percentile of 2023 albums and a spot amongst my top 50 albums of the year. If SWT had been functional in 2022, Boat Songs would’ve made that year’s top 50 list. It made many best of album lists for other music sites and publications in 2022 as well. As a solo artist, Lenderman has also put out MJ Lenderman (2019), Lucky EP (2019), Ghost of Your Guitar Solo (2021) and 2023’s And the Wind (Live and Loose!) garnering fans along the way for both his solo and work as part of his work with Wednesday.
All that being said, I’ve been looking forward to the release of MJ Lenderman’s newest album more than a year now. Hopefully you have too! And on Friday September 6th for our listening pleasure, out via ANTI- Records is Lenderman’s newest work, Manning Fireworks.
Giving credit where it’s due. Manning Fireworks album credits:
- MJ Lenderman: wrote all the songs, co-produced the album, played guitar, drums, bass guitar, organ and drone, and sang lead vocals.
- Landon George: played both upright bass and fiddle on “Manning Fireworks” and “Rip Torn” and just upright bass on “You Don’t Know The Shape I’m In”, and drone on “Bash At The Moon”.
- Ethan Baechtold: played piano on “Rip Torn”.
- Shane McCord: played clarinets on “You Don’t Know The Shape I’m In” and “Bash At The Moon” and drone on “Bash At The Moon”.
- Colin Miller: played slide bebo on “You Don’t Know The Shape I’m In”, and both trumpet and drone on “Bash At The Moon”.
- Xandy Chelmis: played pedal steel on “Rudolph” and “Wristwatch”.
- Karly Hartzman: sang vocals on “Manning Fireworks”, “Wristwatch”, She’s Leaving You”, “Rip Torn”, “You Don’t Know The Shape I’m In” and “Bash At The Moon”
- Alex Farrar: co-produced the album with Lenderman. And recorded, engineered and mixed the album at Drop of Sun in Asheville, NC and played mellotron on “Joker Lips” piano on “Wristwatch” and “She’s Leaving You” and drums on “You Don’t Know The Shape I’m In”.
- Adam McDaniel: played bass clarinet abuse drone on “Bash At The Moon”.
- Greg Obis: mastered the album at Chicago Mastering Service.
- Lawson Anderson: provided assistant engineering on “You Don’t Know The Shape I’m In”.
- Album art cover by Matthew Reed and Andrew James.
And now some hype for your ears and eyes!
“Joker Lips”:
(All credits and rights to MJ Lenderman)
The multi-faceted “Wristwatch” which is one hell of burner of a song:
A talent show is the backdrop of the video for the earworm song, “She’s Leaving You”:
(All credits and rights to MJ Lenderman)
Overall, Manning Fireworks is another step forward in songwriting and song composition for Lenderman. The nine songs on the album see him taking wisdom, experience and perspective from life lessons in the couple of years since his last release and making significant steps forward, fleshing out ideas and concepts into fully formed songs. A good portion of his heart is poured into these songs. As with nearly every album, even the ones we remember fondly decades later, there are a couple “filler” songs on this album, but even these “filler” songs are solid. I’d say better than most as they have earworms in them. Kudos MJ, in Manning Fireworks, you’ve achieved a body of work that many artists never come to realize, but I think we’re all blessed that this is a step on the lengthy discography that should be his career.
Within Manning Fireworks, there’s a beautiful assemblage of talent, with Lenderman supplying most of the drumming, all of the guitar work, all of the bass guitar and all of the organ. As talented as he’s proving to be, the album is elevated to another level with composition choices that Lenderman, Alex Farrar and the other instrumentalists and another vocalist add. There are spectacular solos and excellent additions to the groove worthy and danceable melodies, the overall rhythm and the created mood the listener feels. The songs flow well from one to another in the order they are arranged. Karly Hartzman is an outstanding vocalist in her own right, best known for her band Wednesday. Hartzman and Lenderman’s vocals pair perfectly together, and it shows on each of the six tracks they share vocal responsibilities. In addition, the pedal steel from Xandy Chelmis on two tracks, the upright bass from Landon George on three tracks and fiddle from George on two tracks, the clarinet from Shane McCord, trumpet from Colin Miller and piano from both Ethan Baechtold and Alex Farrar on a total of three tracks are noticeable in the best ways. They all provide welcome additions to each song they contributed to. Over the past two years, I’ve sought out albums Farrar works with, and this is another superb example of his creative talent. He’s amazing at what he does. The sonic quality is top notch on this release.
Manning Fireworks gets 4.5 out of 5 Scum Drops from me. There’s a hell of a lot to like in this album. I think it fits into the lower end of the 4.5 range, but still nothing to scoff at. The album has something for everyone, even the brand-new fan. Earworms, grooves, excellent musicianship, atmosphere, budding lyrics and songwriting. I’d recommend addition it to your collection in the formats of your choosing, but you know me, get the vinyl first.
Manning Fireworks Track listing (song length)
- Manning Fireworks (2:59)
- Joker Lips (3:01)
- Rudolph (3:31)
- Wristwatch (3:42)
- She’s Leaving You (4:38)
- Rip Torn (3:32)
- You Don’t Know The Shape I’m In (3:36)
- On My Knees (3:52)
- Bash At The Moon (10:00)
Total runtime: 38:41
I’ll always advocate that you take the time to listen to every album in its entirety. From start to finish listening to Manning Fireworks will take you less than 40 minutes from start to finish. Along the way, you’ll discover your own favorite songs without the influence or bias of others. After a few listens on my own, the songs that are highlighted in green font above are my favorite songs on this album.
MJ Lenderman’s site with socials in the upper right-hand corner, merch, tour info and more is linked right here!
Thank you for reading and supporting good music.
Until next time,
Alex
Scummy Water Tower Productions co-founder, reviewer, business manager, and editor. Thank you for visiting this site, scummywatertower.com, and YouTube for Water Tower Sessions and SWT Interviews. And all of our socials.
Questions, feedback, or more? Contact me: alex@scummywatertower.com
