“Rudolph waking up in the road/Dew dripping off his red nose/Blue and black, tire track/Torn through a beautiful doe,” rising alt-country star, MJ Lenderman, sings on “Rudulph,” track three of his newest full length album, “Manning Fireworks.”
Lenderman laments about what — to him — “country” is. The now 25-year-old singer-songwriter is the current lead guitarist for the alt-country band, Wednesday, who released the critically acclaimed “Rat Saw God” last year. Lenderman is on his third LP — his first on a well-known label named Anti- — and shows no sign of stopping his creative streak.
His last two albums, a jump-the-gun self-titled record in 2019 and the lackadaisical “Boat Songs” in 2022, were high up in the modern alt-country canon for me. Lenderman comes off to listeners and critics as an absolutely laid-back individual — simply not-a-care in the world.
However, what if I could tell you that Lenderman’s message in the record is not that you should be as laid-back as him, rather, that his inaction in certain scenarios ends up crippling him with an inability to make positive, worthwhile change.
“Manning Fireworks” is an album not only about the self, but Lenderman masterfully personifies his surroundings in order to prove more than just platitudes about society.
On the opening, self-titled track to “Manning Fireworks,” Lenderman nasally sings about religious beliefs and the seemingly reductive nature of it — accompanied, of course, by twangy country-toned guitars and solemn percussion.
“You’ve opened the Bible in a public place/You’ve opened the Bible to the very first page/And one of these days, it will all end/Your tired approach to original sin,” Lenderman signs on the title track.
The social commentary does not stop there, however, as Lenderman tackles relationships and what it takes to make one work. This is apparent on “On My Knees,” the penultimate track of the album.
“Burdened by those nightmares/So you may find me awake/In the dark, I consider my ark/Out the window, the bushеs shake,” Lenderman sings on “On My Knees.”
The lyrics are stellar on all nine tracks. What stunned me, though, were the luscious and distinctive arrangements on “Manning Fireworks.”
Driving and soaring guitar melodies as well as country rock staple-instrumentation is ever-present on “Manning Fireworks” — the leads are impressive but what is even more impressive is what is not in some of the tracks. On “Rip Torn,” an americana-infused slowcore song, there are zero drums, an exclusion that would often draw looks and raise eyebrows on a normal country album — but Lenderman pays his dues.
“Rip Torn” is only one example of a stellar track that is indicative of where modern country is going. Others like “Wristwatch,” “Joker Lips” and the final drone-influenced track “Bark at the Moon” play out like they were written and produced by a legion of the best musicians and musical ideologues of 21-century country music — but it is just him.
Lenderman is a simple guy — hell he is just a guy — but when he has something to say, pay attention, because it could help guide you in the direction you are meant to go in as a human being.
