Meet MJ Lenderman, Southern Rock’s Tragicomic Poet

Dear listeners,

One of my favorite albums of the year comes out today: “Manning Fireworks” by the North Carolina singer-songwriter-guitarist MJ Lenderman, a young artist with an old soul and a keen eye for observational detail that makes his canted portraits of small-town life come alive. I believe so strongly that Lenderman is worth your time that today’s playlist is an introduction to — or, if you’re already familiar, a refresher on — his music and his surrounding scene in Asheville.

There’s a fine art to writing songs that are both comedic and heartbreaking, but Lenderman has the knack: His best lines smart like resounding wallops to the funny bone. “I wouldn’t be in the seminary if I could be with you,” he howls atop jangly, bittersweet chords on “Rudolph,” a single from the new album which you’ll hear on today’s playlist. I love that lyric because it showcases one of Lenderman’s songwriting superpowers, his sense of concision. There’s basically an entire tragicomic short story in those 12 simple words.

The drollness and economy of his writing sometimes reminds me of the great folk singer Bill Callahan, so I wasn’t surprised when Lenderman mentioned, in Will Hermes’s recent Times interview, his love of Callahan’s earlier project Smog. Other Lendermanian touchstones include, to my ears, the shambolic blaze of Neil Young and Crazy Horse, the twangy sparkle of early R.E.M. and the sad-sack poetry of the Silver Jews frontman David Berman. But another thing I love about Lenderman’s music is the way he manages to carry the weight of rock history with both sincerity and an irreverent lightness. “Rudolph” and the final song on this playlist, “Knockin,” riff on Bob Dylan lyrics, while the new album’s closer, “Bark at the Moon,” is, in part, about playing the titular Ozzy Osbourne tune … on Guitar Hero.

In addition to his solo work, Lenderman is the guitarist in the punky Southern rock group Wednesday and has also played on records by indie mainstays like Waxahatchee and Indigo De Souza. I’ve included tracks from those artists, too, to give a wider sense of Lenderman’s musical milieu.

I don’t know what fans of Lenderman call themselves — Lenderheads? Lendermen? Lendermaniacs? — but regardless, count me among their ranks. Perhaps you’ll join us, too.

Don’t move to New York City, babe, it’s gonna change the way you dress,

Lindsay