By William Goltz
Manning Fireworks, the fourth studio album and ANTI Records debut for rising alt-country hero MJ Lenderman might, at the very least, be the best-named piece of art to come out this year.
Even before the album was released, its title had become a source of passionate online debate. From its June announcement fans were left to ponder, in the most Lenderman way, just what kind of “manning” they were waiting for. Was this going to be Manning with a capital “M”, another take on the strange humanity of American pop culture from a songwriter who had, almost unbelievably, managed to spin bangers from Michael Jordan’s “Hangover Game” or from the advertising career of Miami Dolphins legend Dan Marino? Was it Peyton’s turn? In the end, however, what makes Manning Fireworks such a damn good title is that it actually describes what feels like a pretty huge thematic leap for Lenderman.
Manning Fireworks is not another album on the humanity of sports stars but instead, a record that obsesses over lame, peripheral dudes, standing limply at the sidelines, manning fireworks. Its stories are pathetic, wry, and achingly pretty. They are, as Lenderman himself has explained, largely fictional, character studies written with removed empathy, taking in everything mid-life crisis sorrow on She’s Leaving You to the strictures of priesthood on Rudolf, probably the only song on my “bangers” playlist with the word “seminary” in the chorus.
Crucially though, these literary exercises never come across as grandiose or self-indulgent. As easy as it would be to call this a result of MJ’s slacker image and personal unwillingness to take himself too seriously, Lenderman deserves better. What keeps Manning Fireworks unpretentious is the fact that nothing is profane in his world. Even if it now seems less focused on sports, Lenderman’s continuing obsession with the absurdity of American popular culture keeps his stories real. Relationships fall apart under “half-mast McDonald’s flags” and Lightning McQueen blacks out. Rudolf gets run over. Self-deprecating as he can be, MJ takes everything seriously.
