Review 2: MJ Lederman - Manning Fireworks

#38 MJ Lenderman Manning Fireworks

MJ Lenderman is an artist I've never consciously listened to before and I'm entirely unaware of the genre or anything about this artists beyond the liner notes issued on Billboard's top 50 albums of 2024, which reads:

"Neil Young’s shadow lingers over the ascendant indie-rocker’s latest, from thunderous scuzz (“On My Knees”) to rootsy reflection (“Rip Torn”). But it’s Lenderman’s pen – which feels closer to another great, Silver Jews’ David Berman – that sets him apart from the legions who’ve tried for decades to channel the rock legend."

Indie rock? Check. Thunderous scuzz? Check. So let's get a first impression of a new artist.

1. Manning Fireworks

A lo fi acoustic number, some guitar string rattles. The vocals are far from pristine but fit the song well. This song reminds me more of a dirge played outside of a pentecostal tent ministry in the summer of 1973 rural Georgia. Tickets cost $1.50 and all the warm Coca-Cola you can drink.

2. Joker Lips

Slide guitar takes center stage duplicating the melody. Mainstream acoustic based song. Has a very 70's vibe. It's just okay.

3. Rudolph

CMT meets low-fi indie pop. The vocals here are lazy that could be plucked out of a 90's garage band from Boston. No auto-tune which is actually a plus. The guitars are polished where the vocals aren't. Lots of slide guitar. Feels like a song I'd see part of an indie film festival at college circa 1992. Guitar solo is nice and long. Most interesting song so far.

4. Wristwatch

A bit darker at the start. Intro is nice. There's that slide guitar again. The chorus is strong, the lyrics stand out: "And I’ve got a houseboat docked at the Himbo Dome. And a wristwatch that’s a pocket knife and a megaphone, and a wristwatch that tells me I’m on my own". What's a himbo dome? That's not an easy question, nevertheless, a stronger tune. Melancholy vibes. I like this one.

5. She's Leaving You

The most indie of the indie songs, yet still pop influences shine through. This very much reminds me of a few other artists songs like "The Acorn - Plateau Ramble" Short melody singing, nearly speaking the words by hitting the correct tone. Similar as well to maybe Andrew Bird? Guitar solo included, very rhythmic.

6. Rip Torn

Slightly out of tune acoustic. Another melancholy choice. The music reminds me of some early Ryan Adams songs, like "In My Time of Need" from Heartbreaker or perhaps "Winding Wheel". Quite a country/indie mix but not tickling my interest.

7. You Don't Know the Shape I'm In

A little more upbeat. T-80 drums but demure. Storytelling is in first person. Interesting lyrical usage and pauses between the verses. Not much else going on here - the song doesn't really go anywhere but lingers for appreciation. Various squeals and feedback used to entice the ear perhaps because it's difficult to differentiate this song with others that came before.

8. On My Knees

Much more rock start. Half open high-hat keeps the time. Meh. Not feeling this song at all.

9. Bark at the Moon

Different feel right off the bat. More of a 70's pop feel. I wished it went somewhere as a song and wasn't just a format to try out interesting samples and noises. Again, meh.

Overall thoughts:

The vocals get a little grating after a few songs. It seems like the vocals are always in the same range, same key. The melody seems nearly identical in each song. MJ is no singer but provides enough to carry the melody. Each song I think (and I could be wrong since I don't have perfect pitch) may be in a very close key, certainly the melody's are very similar from song to song. As well, each song is sung the exact same way. By the time I got to "On My Knees" my ear cannot detect much of a difference between song 3 and song 8. From a musicians perspective, listening to the entire album in one go (old skool) grates on me. I'm struggling to pick one song out from another. I get that there should be cohesion in an album. It's why artists who had a wide range of writing brought the stuff that matched the song to the band, then released solo albums or side projects for the stuff that didn't match the band. It's certainly got a vibe but one that I can only take in small doses. This album has very little passion, but what it does have is very consistent, a bit bland and very little spark. Stand out songs are "Wristwatch" and "She's Leaving You". It's like Lederman is more of a poet searching for a few notes to carry his prose, rather than a musician with a melody tell a story.

5/10

Review 1: The Cure - Songs of the Lost World

#50 The Cure, Songs of a Lost World (2024) from Billboard's top 50 albums of 2024.

This is the first album from The Cure and Robert Smith, since 2008's release of 4:13 Dream. With full disclosure, one of my favorite albums of all time is Disintegration, or how I describe that album as a "bittersweet album to off yourself". Disintegration is a visceral album that forces you to feel melancholy and will depress the happiest person who ever lived.

So let's listen to the album tracks of "Songs of a Lost World" and see what happens, since I really haven't listened to The Cure for at least 15 years. My taste in music has radically changed since 1989's Disintegration, so let's see what happens:

Skip the song reviews and go to the overall album thoughts

1. Alone

Programmed drums & synth. Feels like a long walk in the dark on the Scottish moors; cold, dried heather and a wide open landscape. Interesting to start the album with what feels like a nearly 7 minute instrumental, but at 3:20 Smith's lyrics come in. "This is the end of every song that I sing". hopes and dreams are gone, the end of every song" is despairing and sweetly cynical picture of our world.

A courageous 3+ minute introduction since nearly every song written in the past 10 years skips the intro yet the 3:20 minutes sets the stage nicely. No bridge. The song knows what it's about, it doesn't have to go anywhere it doesn't want to go.

2. And Nothing is Forever

Piano & synth strings - nice long intro again is so refreshing. The lyrics reflect upon growing old and the futility of life and love against time. "If you promise to be with me in the end". This one's going on my "songs to play at my wake" playlist. I feel like this is a reflection upon mortality.

3. A Fragile Thing

More rock, heavy bass & drums. Half step tension in the chord selection. The mix balances the bass/drums and vocals well though the vocals are behind a little - some old school mixing here. Guitar solo is a nice touch.

4. Warsong

Interesting rhythmic textures with echo's between the left and right. Again a long intro, with harsh guitar and pizzicato violin plucking. Lyrics start around 2 minutes in. "We tell each other lies to hide the truth and hate ourselves with everything we do" cut to the bone. Very much a wall of sound relegated to the anguish being felt. Very much in the "Disintegration" vein.

5. Drone: Nodrone

Hard mechanical rhythm and bass. The shortest intro so far on the album 1:08. Different than any of the other songs so far. Perhaps a different writer? It almost sounds out of place. Another guitar solo this time with wawa pedal and a bit of harshness. The bass almost sounds like it comes from a Tool song. Industrial pop? Interesting.

6. I can Never Say Goodbye

Opens with thunder and piano and there's the Tool bass. Long intro 2:22.

A song I interpret to be about loss, "Something this way comes to from out of the cruel and treacherous night, Something wicked this way comes to steal away my brother's life". Guitar solo. Love the breakdown after the solo, there's no rush to get to the end of the song. The use of the Ray Bradbury 1962 dark fantasy title "Something Wicked this Way Comes" is somehow satisfying.

7. All I Ever Am

A more power pop version of a standard Cure song. The prose is very introspective. "Of all the ghosts, and all the dreams All I hold to in belief, That all I ever am, Is somehow never quite all I am now".

More than the music, the lyrics create a ennui and inevitability of darkness. Countering the pop-ish music, the lyrics are perhaps the darkest of the album so far.

8. Endsong

The 10:23 minute finale. Synth, tom tom rhythm's almost sound military. Layer upon layer is added, first bass, then guitar and then another guitar, then chimes, then tamborine. The longest droning instrumental beginning that keeps going until 6:19 into the song. Perhaps the most depressing of the songs on the album. "No hopes, no dreams , no world, no I don't belong, I don't belong here anymore, It's all gone" Smith is predicting his own demise it seems.

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Overall thoughts:

A very dark album. Gone are the melancholy pop songs of the past like "Boys don't cry" or any enthusiasm for the future. It's very stark landscape painted by Smith. If you've ever watched a 2009 movie called "The Road" with Viggo Mortensen, this is the musical version of that movie. I can't help but think of "This is the end" by the Doors. Even in Disintegration there was a little hope a little light a little to look forward to with "Pictures of You" and "Lovesong" something upbeat to offset the melancholy. This album has none of that. It's all bleak. It's all dark. It's all lonely. Everything is nothing.

This is a very lyrically driven album. The words, not the beats, not the effects, not the guitar layers or mixing are the key to feeling the music.

To me this sounds like goodbye from Robert Smith. It reminds me of a goodbye letter of someone terminally ill, who, while they can, writes down their last thoughts before embarking into the void.

I would not recommend this album to anyone off their depression meds, or who are not considering a future. This is a dark sequel to Disintegration where the end is empty. It forces you to feel. It forces you to recognize mortality and the possibility of nothing at the end.

Stand out songs were "Alone", "Nothing is Forever" and "I Can Never Say Goodbye". I'm off to pop a few Prozac and take a nap.

Rating 7/10

The Top 11 (I couldn't get it to 10) perfect albums

I watched a "What is your top perfect albums" on youtube. The criteria was pretty loose with only a few guidelines:

1. An album that you won't skip any songs

2. An album where the production is top notch

3. An album that you just won't get tired listening

I thought about this for a while and figured I would find two or three perfect albums and I had a few in mind. Then I listened to these albums and found out that they didn't make the list. I was so disappointed!

For example, I thought Journey Escape would have been a perfect album but there are a few songs there that I would skip. Then I went through my spotify playlists. I adore some artist on there but just couldn't find a perfect album that I would just listen all the way through without skipping, or that may have a dated production type. So I kept digging.

After an extensive list, I whittled it down to a top 11, There was only one album since 2014 and it's a fusion/jazz album. Everything else was 90's and earlier. Many barely missed. Fleetwood Mac Mirage nearly made it. Rush Moving Pictures from 1982 was close. Pete Townshend's White City was close - I love that album as well as All the Best Cowboys have Chinese Eyes - but they just didn't make the cut.

Of course these albums are totally dependent upon the listeners taste in music. While the youtube guys picked albums like Black Sabbath Mob Rules, or Queen's Night at the Opera, it's very dependent on the listeners musical taste. That my list contained only ONE album from the past 11 years - where the next nearest album is from 1996 is incredible. Is modern music that bad? Yeah a lot of it kinda is - but that's a discussion for another day.

THE LIST:

1. Classic Rock Billy Joel - Songs in the Attic 1981 Live album

2. Hard Rock Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream 1993

3. Indie Pop The Sundays - Reading, Writing, Arithmetic 1990

4. Fusion/Jazz Snarky Puppy - We like it Here 2014

5. Folk Rock Toad the Wet Sprocket - Dulcinea 1994

6. Folk Patty Griffin - Living with Ghosts 1996

7. Alt Rock Third Eye Blind - Third Eye Blind 1997

8. Classic Rock Boston - Boston 1976

9. Classic Rock Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here 1975

10. Classic Rock Fleetwood Mac - Rumours 1977

11. Prog Rock Peter Gabriel - Car 1977

You might ask, what about something in the last decade old man? What about 2024 best albums? Well, I went through the Billboard top 50 albums list. Albums that I am interested in were:

#50 The Cure, Songs of a Lost World

#38 MJ Lenderman, Manning Fireworks

#36 Lainey Wilson, Whirlwind

#35 Remi Wolf, Big Ideas

#32 The Last Dinner Party, Prelude to Ecstasy

#29 St. Vincent, All Born Screaming

#28 Justice, Hyperdrama

#24 Zach Bryan, The Great American Bar Scene

#21 Waxahatchee, Tigers Blood

#19 Vampire Weekend, Only God Was Above Us

#5 Billie Eilish, Hit Me Hard and Soft

#3 Sabrina Carpenter, Short N’ Sweet

I'll do a review of each of these over the next few months, I'll listen and review each of these albums, old skool- like Rolling Stone but the 1970's version of Rolling Stone.