Brudenell Social Club, Leeds 22nd November 2024
MJ Lenderman’s current album didn’t prepare me for his live set tonight. Largely played by himself, the album is thoughtful, wry, amusing and accomplished. The set tonight was pure loud and loose rocking of the highest quality.
The six-piece band played perfectly loose music that was somehow just on the money – doing it just right but without a drilled perfection. It reminded me of the ragged glory of Neil Young’s Crazy Horse, exemplified by MJ taking an unexpected moment to tune his guitar mid-song and the band just jamming on around him, ready for him to join back in when ready. Speaking of Neil Young, there’s a good few chord progressions Neil would recognise, as well as melodic movements Wilco would be pleased with and some tips of the hat to Bob Dylan along the way.
A tall and slim figure, Lenderman is the still centre of the stage, a wry smile and a set of superb rock and roll guitar licks. Around him leap guitar and bass. The guitarist jumps, flails and twirls, chopping and adding a higher layer. The bassist bounces and bends, which is what bassists who move your feet do. Weeping and singing pedal steel adds that country depth, while adding in a bit of fiddle and some acoustic guitar. Drums are just right and keys are unobtrusively always in the right place. The crown jewel is the slow, solid and rough soloing of Lenderman, whose gift of melodic and textural presence is remarkable. It’s a busy place but it all hangs together in a way that suggests a lot of playing together and evolving rather than arranging drilling.
The sold-out crowd is rapt for the memorable lyrics but plenty are reacting to the natural boogie of the faster pieces. Songs seem to grow and build organically or break apart into deconstructive feedback before kicking back in on over-amplified crunchy guitar lines. There’s elements of Green On Red here and other revolutionary approaches to Americana as the band make the genre a rocking one, kicking hard with guitar solos and a raw, pure energy.
For an encore we get a call for a better America and a need for a new approach with Neil Young’s ever-hopeful ‘Lotta Love’ before ‘SUV’, which is a pounding thing worthy of Motorhead if it weren’t for the flanged psychedelic guitar. ‘Tastes Like It Costs’ closes the evening with incandescent energy and a jam that comes and goes between flames – so much so that the guitarist puts his instrument down, heads off stage, hears the song kick back up again and comes back. It’s that special sort of loose where the band seems able to accommodate anything, achieve anything and reach beyond their grasp.
The band transforms the experience of the songs and must be experienced.
I was at the brudenell gig and it was awesome, even managed to get my merch signed and some pics with the band members afterwards
My playlist from this show https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfdet70KEJccdYO8xkKhwGwJEbxQTFq9u