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Indie Rock’s Latest ‘Savior’ Isn’t There Yet
There’s a funny disconnect in heaping highbrow praise on MJ Lenderman, a guy who writes poignant songs that reference Lucky Charms and Rip Torn.
Near the end of his new album, Manning Fireworks, MJ Lenderman deadpans over a crunchy guitar riff, “Every day is a miracle / Not to mention a threat.” That could be a Zen koan about the human condition or just a tidy summary of how the sad-sack characters in his songs view the world. For the uninitiated, Lenderman is a singer-songwriter out of Asheville, North Carolina, who’s both the lead guitarist in the band Wednesday and a solo act, recording fairly traditionalist alt rock with a country flair and oddball lyrics that blurs the line between goofy and profound. Two years after he broke out with the comparatively lo-fi Boat Songs, music journalists have identified Manning Fireworks as an opportunity to open the floodgates, deeming Lenderman everything from a generational talent to “the guitarist who could make indie rock big again.”
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