Album Review: Manning Fireworks by MJ Lenderman

Some artists arrive fully formed on their debut record—think The Cars’ self-titled album. Others take a couple of albums to find their voice—think Springsteen’s Born to Run. Twenty-five-year-old MJ Lenderman falls into the latter camp. His fourth album, Manning Fireworks, marks a significant leap forward from his previous releases. I discovered him after his third album, the very good Boat Songs. His earlier records are sometimes hampered by tossed-off jokes, sports references, and a tendency to hew too closely to his influences. On Manning Fireworks, the humor remains but now evokes the slyness of Warren Zevon more than the too-cool-for-school snark of Pavement. Like Springsteen moving away from his verbose Dylan phase, Lenderman finds his voice here by striking the perfect balance between Jason Molina-style Americana and early ’90s alt-rock—all while unleashing his inner guitar god. On his previous records, he often buried his guitar work, almost as if embarrassed to play a solo.