New Music Reviews: MJ Lenderman and Beachwood Sparks

It’s easy to imagine both of these two acts residing in late-1960s Los Angeles. Beachwood Sparks adopt a Byrds-ish jangle with warm harmonies. MJ Lenderman pitches his music somewhere between Neil Young and Pavement.

MJ Lenderman

Manning Fireworks

2024, 8.5/10
Asheville guitarist and songwriter Jake Lenderman has become a constant fixture in this column. Between his solo career (Manning Fireworks is his fourth solo album in five years), his work as lead guitarist for the band Wednesday, and his appearances as a sideman (he made key contributions on Waxahatchee’s Tiger’s Blood earlier this year), it’s hard to keep pace.

Lenderman’s music is like a missing link between the nonchalant classic rock of Neil Young and the slacker rock of Pavement. His music often lopes along with seemingly casual lyrics. But it leaves its mark, “You can put your clothes back on/She’s leaving you” is a disarmingly strong opening line. Elsewhere, his fixations include basketball and Catholicism.

Lenderman recently broke up with Wednesday’s leader, Karly Hartzman. It’s unclear whether songs like ‘She’s Leaving You’ and ‘You Don’t Know the Shape I’m In’ address the breakup directly, but sad resignation permeates the record. Lenderman also likes to write about unlikeable men, something he says “Mostly just because it’s funny to me.”

Like Young, Lenderman’s comfortable with laid-back country or ferocious riff rockers. The latter includes ‘Rudolph’, with a great riff.

Lenderman’s unfiltered, idiosyncratic rock is fascinating, and I’m looking forward to more.


Beachwood Sparks

Across the River of Stars

2024, 6/10
Beachwood Sparks have been around since the late 1990s, but Across the River of Stars is only their fourth album. Produced by The Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson, Across the River of Stars sounds like The Byrds made a record between The Notorious Byrds Brothers and Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Like Gram Parsons’ vision of Cosmic American Music, but with the smooth voices of the original Byrds.

The guitars and harmonies sound gorgeous. but the record feels detached. ‘Gentle Samurai’ pushes the envelope too far with its hokey classic rock references. The group sing about silver ravens and marquee moons, before launching into a nonsensical chorus. It’s one of the disc’s most memorable tunes, but the lyrics kill it stone dead.

When it works, it is lovely. ‘Falling Forever’ is a gorgeous song that could almost pass as a peak-era Byrds outtake. The chilled ‘High Noon’ is a gorgeously tranquil tune in the back half of the record, while ‘Wild Swans’ is a pretty closer.

It’s probably unfair to judge a band on an album made a quarter century after their debut. Across the River of Stars recreates the Laurel Canyon sound beautifully, but feels a little empty.

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10 Comments

  1. I like both of your picks and a;lso included the Beachwood Sparks album in a previous new music review. It definitely has a Byrdsy vibe and, as such, perhaps is a bit derivative, but I love that sound, so I don’t mind! MJ Lenderman rang a bell, and it turned out I previously featured music from a Wednesday April 2023 album in another new music review at the time. I’d be curious to further check out Lenderman and wrote down his name.

    • Yeah, I think I picked up on the Beachwood Sparks record off of you – I’d heard of them before, but didn’t know about the new stuff. I’d like it more if Gentle Samurai didn’t have such bad (IMO) lyrics. It’s one of the catchiest tunes on the disc, which just makes it worse.

      Lenderman’s on his way up I reckon – poised to be a breakout indie artist.

    • I don’t know if light is quite the word, but it’s certainly closer to Neil Young & Crazy Horse than it is to Led Zep.

  2. I love the sound the Beachwood Sparks get. That is a great tone on guitar… it has a earthy feel that is not too polished which personally I really like.

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