| Track | Album / Single |
|---|---|
| She’s Leaving You | Manning Fireworks |
| Knockin | Non-album single |
| Heartbreak Blues | MJ Lenderman |
| Inappropriate | Ghost Of Your Guitar Solo |
| Live Jack | And The Wind (Live And Loose!) |
| Dancing In The Club | Box For Buddy… (Deluxe Ed) |
| SUV | And The Wind (Live And Loose!) |
| Toontown | And The Wind (Live And Loose!) |
| You Are Every Girl To Me | Boat Songs |
| You Don’t Know The Shape I’m In | Manning Fireworks |
You can put your clothes back on, she’s leaving you
No time to apologize for the things you do
Go rent a Ferrari and sing the blues
Believe that Clapton was the second coming
Not since the Jam’s Butterfly Collector have lyrics hit me so hard. A scornful, sneering, but incisive, character assassination. And these words, the opening lines to She’s Leaving You, were my first introduction to MJ Lenderman. Those opening lyrics, a big sing-along chorus, alt-country twang. I listened to it on repeat.
This was 2024. I was somewhat late to the party. Unknown to me Mark Jacob Lenderman had already put out three studio albums and a live album, as well as various collaborations, most notably with the band Wednesday. A fourth album Manning Fireworks was on the way.
Months later, bored on a long train journey I read and listened along to Pitchfork’s article ˈThe 100 Best Songs of the 2020s So Farˈ. There were some names I knew, even a couple of songs I liked, but mostly it made me feel old and out of touch – until, at number 40, Knockin by MJ Lenderman. Like She’s Leaving You, Knockin combines pop culture references, more than a hint of melancholy and a big anthemic refrain – in this case borrowing from the Dylan song and impossible not to sing along with. This was my cue to delve deeper in MJ Lenderman’s back catalogue.
Heartbreak Blues is my favourite track from MJ Lenderman’s self-titled debut album. The lyrics – you will be my saviour, and you will be my friend – break my heart every time. It has an obvious alt-country sound and that title is pure country. It is also an epic, compared to many of his songs, at over 7 minutes.
By way of contrast, Inappropriate from his second album with the delightfully wry title Ghost Of Your Guitar Solo, is a short sharp shock at just 1 minute 30 seconds. Across its five lines of lyrics, a perfectly formed narrative ill-ease emerges that would give Hemingway a run for his money in the short, short story stakes.
MJ Lenderman loves sport and in particular basketball. This may not be that unusual in genres like hip hop, but the typical sensitive singer songwriter is more likely to be the kid picked last in PE. He has two songs simply named after his favourite sport (Basketball #1 and Basketball #2) as well as frequent mentions of sports stars (golfer John Daly in Knockin, Michael Jordan in Hangover Game, American footballers Dan Marino and Tom Brady in the song named for the first). My pick of his sports-related songs is Live Jack, which combines basketball and Lenderman’s signature pop culture obsession in one song:
Jack Nicholson’s courtside seat
Purple foam imprinted with celebrity ass cheek
And if the Lakers get beat
Well it won’t mean much to me
The original, Gentleman’s Jack, appears on Ghost Of Your Guitar Solo, but I have a slight preference for the renamed live version on the album And The Wind (Live And Loose!). Which brings us neatly on to the one time (so far) that I’ve seen M J Lenderman live.
Waiting for MJ Lenderman to come on at The Roundhouse, August 2025. It was chaos in the bars, one was closed, draught was off, everyone was squishing forward, keen to get a drink in before he came on. Next to me were two teenage girls (one who’d soon be refused a drink due to lack of ID). I couldn’t help but overhear their conversation “No matter what, we need to be back in there in time for Dancing In The Club”. I assume they did hear it. It was the second song in the set, but there was really no guarantee he would play it, because Dancing In The Club isn’t technically an MJ Lenderman song. It is a reworking of a This is Lorelei song. I’d stop short of calling it a cover version as it was released as a collaboration with This is Lorelei where the original stylised computer-like vocals have been replaced by Lenderman’s much warmer voice with guitar added. I don’t mind the original, but I much prefer the Lenderman collaboration version and, crucially, collaborations seem as much a part of MJ Lenderman’s music career as his solo records. As well as his association with Wednesday, there have been collaborations with Ben Kweller and Waxahatchee – a level of musical crossover and collaboration not seen since Laurel Canyon in the 1970s.
That same Roundhouse gig was my husband’s first introduction to MJ Lenderman. Despite the plethora of sports references, I wasn’t sure if he would like it or if it would fall into his dismissive category of ˈsoft ladˈ music. I needn’t have worried. Live MJ Lenderman is loud and fast. Perhaps the best example of this is SUV, originally on third album Boat Songs but better enjoyed live for its full scuzzy glory.
Sticking with a live version of another one from Boat Songs for my next pick, Toontown. About halfway through the Roundhouse gig, MJ Lenderman is joined on stage by Karly Hartzman, singer of the band Wednesday, of which he has been a part-time member. They perform a range of songs together including some Wednesday tracks, but since Wednesday is deserving of its own Toppermost, I’ve gone with one of Lenderman’s own songs here.
I do have a slight preference for the more polished(ish) sound of MJ Lenderman’s later albums so I’m finishing off the list with a pick each from Boat Songs and Manning Fireworks. You Are Every Girl To Me is another short story in song form, with Lenderman’s usual cultural references that are at once definitely American but could easily belong to an older generation than his. Limiting myself to just one more track from Manning Fireworks (She’s Leaving You is on that album too) was the hardest part of compiling this list. Joker Lips and Wristwatch were both written down and deleted at various points before I settled on You Don’t Know The Shape I’m In. It feels like the next instalment in the relationship story started in You Are Every Girl To Me; the strain of a long-distance romance coming to an end. It is hard not to assume that it is about the demise of Lenderman and Karly Hartzman’s romantic relationship. The track has a musical maturity to it with the addition of slide guitar and even a clarinet. Amongst the heart-wrenching sadness and regret, there is still a certain playfulness with the song’s mournful clarinet part mentioned postmodern style in the lyrics, Clarinet singing its lonesome duck walk. If this song represents what we can expect from MJ Lenderman in the future, then I’m very much looking forward to hearing more.
Having written about topics ranging from baby car seats to housing policy, Justine Harvey now mainly writes about theatre buildings for work or her passion for outdoor swimming. Writing about music has made a nice change. She is on Bluesky and Instagram.
Justine’s other posts on this site include Beth Orton, Chemical Brothers, Little Barrie, Maxïmo Park, Primal Scream, The Reds, Pinks & Purples, Richmond Fontaine, Senseless Things, Wonder Stuff
TopperPost #1,202
The Beths
Great list, and scary that one could come up with so many variations for an artist that young. Amazing catalog (so far). For me: “Taste Just Like It Costs” and live take of “Someone Left The Grill Out In The Rain” would be the launching point…