Old new world

MJ Lenderman (b. 1999) has just discovered the old new world, that is, the good old America of three decades ago, where alternative rock was the conscience of the nation and Cobain was the god instead of Hendrix. Thanks to unexpected success grunge to express an anti-corporate view of the world, Rock and Roll was last nationally relevant in the USA right then, during the nineties of the last century. Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains and others made history with it, and along with them, Pavement, Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer, Beck and dozens of other free-spirited names created important albums at the same time, adding to the modern rock mythology.

Then came the tide of digitization that gradually silenced the sound of guitar amps. No matter how many historical rock bands have survived and are still welcome hosts of the festival program, there are clearly fewer of them than before. That's why it might be interesting for you to find out how it has been at work in the past couple of years underground the return of exactly this alternative sound among young bands, who are tired of the same digital music form in various packages. For some time now, a new stream of serious authorship has been flowing through the underground of popular music: there is a whole wave of interesting young people singer songwriter such as Weyes Blood or Waxahatchee, Marika Hackman or Jessica Pratt, Cassandra Jenkins or Clairo, obviously relying on singer-songwriters from the nineties and even hippie times, while cautiously searching for their expression in the world wasteland of the two thousand and twenty.

Among them is Marc Jacob Lenderman, a young man from Asheville, North Carolina, who released a solo album in September. Manning Fireworks brought a rarely seen global fireworks display of critical acclaim. It is his fourth studio album in a row, but the first for the more prominent independent label Anti-, and he is also known as the guitarist for Wednesday, a serious indie composition from the South. However, it is only on this release that it can be said that MJ has completely built his manuscript (guitar writing & voice writing) - and it reminds in every detail of some classic rock achievements, only placed in today's context.

SLACKER HUMOR

If you've ever wondered how the great rock groups of yesteryear would treat the cruelly confused present, MJ Lenderman gives us at least an approximate answer: with due compassion for the little man.

Manning Fireworks it exudes a warmth that hardly any contemporary record has. All the songs are permeated with a melancholic humanity that warms, provides comfort, fills this heartless moment... The main hero of MJ Lenderman is either himself or types similar to him - helpless and resourceless, without the ability to take advantage of the few chances they are given in life, who and so it goes wrong. But no one here indulges in a tavern sevdah over their failed destiny - it is accepted as it is with youthful charm, with the expectation of better days that will never come. It is likely that this very practical stoicism is the prevailing sentiment of Generation Z, of which MJ is the unexpected troubadour... So Manning Fireworks it has the power of human expression, which goes beyond even the impressive slice-of-Life the poetry of its author.

The album offers us a selection of songs, of which you don't know which seems more alive in its unpretentious southern romanticism: She's Leaving You stuns him with a story about how his girlfriend leaves him, although he tries not to notice; Wristwatch presents us with the next hero who pretends to be too rich and all-powerful, but is actually just lonely and wants to attract attention, especially "some other" female person; Rip torn describes an acquaintance with an unusual but unforgettable girl; Joker Lips i Rudolph are unusual love songs that mention many trivial things such as hotel towels, televisions, the Pope and the seminary, before finally revealing a longing for Her company. The title track itself Manning Fireworks he reveals to us a considerable talent for other fateful observations, nailing down with a precise analysis the degeneration of a character who turned into his opposite and from the most popular guy of his generation became the last jerk. It's happening.

MJ Lenderman certainly knows the origins of his songbook well: the sweeping strokes of the guitar to Crazy Horse, Dinosaur Jr or Teenage Fanclub form the basis of his sound. The great influence of Neil Young, from his existentialist country-rock records, is undeniable, and here we find traces of bright Harvest, as well as dark ones On The Beach, but also all those alter-antiheroes who were later inspired by them, especially the unfortunate Jason Molina (Songs: Ohio, Magnolia Electric Co.) or Mark Linkous (Sparklehorse).

But the crucial quality that sets it apart Manning Fireworks of all similar editions, there is humor - the fact that on it, from track to track, the narration flows like a casual conversation on the street or in a cafe, with plenty of anecdotal observations. Although the final composition that defines the poet's position in this world - Bark at the Moon - opens the statement: "I have lost my sense of humor", but even that is funny, and there is actually plenty of disarmingly sentimental humor here... No topic is sacred to MJ, not even to himself, so that he does not become friends with it he joked kindly. Just take the following verse, which we won't translate for you in order not to spoil the essence, and which builds on good old Dylan and extends his wisdom into this century: "How many roads must a man walk down / 'til he learns he's just a jerk ?".

As MJ Lenderman himself said in a song: "Don't laugh, only half of what I said was a joke".