Photo by Karly Hartzman

MJ Lenderman has become the ultimate dudes rock-er. At the still-very-young-age of his early 20s, the North Carolina guitar slinger and songwriter has already played on some of the best (traditional) indie rock albums since the pandemic era upended the timeline, between his 2020 solo breakthrough, Boat Songs, his big role as a member in Wednesday, making for one of this year’s best hired studio guns on Waxahatchee’s latest, and guesting hear and there on his buds’ songs. That Jake Lenderman has spent a shorter time on this Earth than most of his rockist peers to share a more intriguing, dark-humored take on a warped world is even more so evident with “She’s Leaving You”. The latest single from his fourth solo LP and ANTI- Records debut, Manning Fireworks, proves he can sneer with as much, if not more, big divorced dad energy as those who’ve already gotten there. Channeling his inner boomer from the zoomer perspective, Lenderman turns the sad art of being a washed guy into a country-fried-and-kickdrum rock thumping anthem that charms the mid-life crisis point. “Go rent a Ferrari / And sing the blues / Believe that Clapton was the second coming,” he sings. You can see the whole crash coming from miles off in the distance, yet when he sings it through the wire and twang, it couldn’t sound any cooler of a look to aspire to.

Directed by: Whitmer Thomas and Clay Tatum

MJ Lenderman’s Manning Fireworks will be released September 6th on ANTI- Records.