MJ Lenderman, just 25 years old, is a busy man.
His fifth solo album, Manning Fireworks, arrives Friday (Sept. 6). But he also plays guitar in the Ashville, North Carolina, indie rock band Wednesday—led by his former girlfriend and songwriter Karly Hartzman. Their 2023 album, Rat Saw God, displays Hartzman’s vulnerable songwriting and Lenderman’s husky guitar playing. The songs echo a less noisy version of My Bloody Valentine. Think of MBV’s Loveless, without the bankrupting studio bills.
Lenderman has also moonlighted as a guitarist for Americana act Waxahatchee. Waxahatchee’s somber and sparkling “Right Back to It” features Lenderman’s lonesome guitar arpeggios and sweet monotone and lifting backing vocals.
Wednesday finishes their tour this month and Lenderman will immediately begin his own solo run to support Manning Fireworks. So here’s an introduction to Lenderman’s solo work. A rising star and a hardworking man of many hats, he’s an indie rock (anti-) guitar hero and sardonically poignant songwriter. Check out four low-key classics from MJ Lenderman.
“Wristwatch” from Manning Fireworks (2024)
Lenderman is known for his laconic and slack-virtuoso guitar work. But his witty and profound lyrics are equally impressive. The fingerprints of Will Oldham and John Prine are present in the words. “Wristwatch” is a devastating song where Lenderman sings about his watch being a compass and a cell phone. It’s also a pocketknife and a megaphone. Still, with all its technology and power, ultimately, he sings, it’s a wristwatch that tells me I’m on my own.
“Hangover Game” from Boat Songs (2022)
In Game Five of the ’97 NBA Finals, Michael Jordan, suffering from food poisoning, led a historic performance with the Chicago Bulls. Later, rumors spread Jordan wasn’t ill from food poisoning, but he’d instead been partying the night before with Robert Redford. Or possibly, he’d been gambling in Las Vegas. Lenderman addresses the Jordan affair like this:
He looked so sick
It was all over the news
But it wasn’t the pizza
And it wasn’t the flu
Yeah, I love drinking, too.
“She’s Leaving You” from Manning Fireworks (2024)
In the music video for “She’s Leaving You,” Lenderman performs in a talent show in front of a school auditorium that slightly resembles Nirvana’s video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Both his delivery and detached aesthetic recall Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus. While the audience would rather watch a juggler, Lenderman and his band roll through “She’s Leaving You” looking like they’d rather be anywhere but here. He sings about a depressing character in Vegas and his opening line sums up this man’s sad situation: You can put your clothes back on / She’s leaving you.
“Knockin” (Single, 2023)
Though Lenderman isn’t usually a belter, he lets loose during the second chorus of “Knockin,” articulating love’s grand ability to untether one from life’s predictable anxieties. The song explodes into a combination of Crazy Horse fuzz, J Mascis guitar fury, and the punkier side of alt-country. The hook is positively beautiful. Restraint and taste are important attributes to any musician worth their salt. But Lenderman has mastered both. “Knockin” is a glorious wall of sound and feedback—earnest, sincere, and unburdened by self-consciousness. If you are new to MJ Lenderman, begin here.
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