# Manning Fireworks
**Manning Fireworks** is the fourth solo studio album by the American singer-songwriter MJ Lenderman (Mark Jacob Lenderman), released on September 6, 2024 by Anti- Records. Recorded at Drop of Sun studio in [Asheville, North Carolina](https://www.edgepedia.org/asheville-north-carolina), the nine-song, 38-minute record follows his 2022 breakthrough *Boat Songs* and earned a Metascore of 88 based on 22 critic reviews, all positive.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/manning-fireworks/mj-lenderman/critic-reviews) • [2](https://music.apple.com/us/album/manning-fireworks/1749088991)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist | MJ Lenderman, Asheville, North Carolina singer-songwriter and guitarist in the band Wednesday[3](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/mj-lenderman-manning-fireworks/) |
| Release | September 6, 2024, Anti- Records; fourth solo studio album[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/manning-fireworks/mj-lenderman/critic-reviews) |
| Length | 9 songs, 38 minutes[2](https://music.apple.com/us/album/manning-fireworks/1749088991) |
| Recording | Drop of Sun studio, Asheville, NC; produced by MJ Lenderman and Alex Farrar, mixed by Farrar[4](https://mjlenderman.bandcamp.com/album/manning-fireworks) |
| Critical reception | Metascore 88 (universal acclaim), 22 of 22 critic reviews positive[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/manning-fireworks/mj-lenderman/critic-reviews) |
| UK chart peaks | No. 2 on the Country Artists Albums chart, No. 9 Independent Albums, No. 20 Physical Albums, No. 29 Album Downloads[5](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/mj-lenderman-manning-fireworks/) |
| Year-end standing | Named one of the Associated Press's top albums of 2024[6](https://apnews.com/article/cc1c5c3690daebf29601ca4392801c7b) |
## Background and recording
Lenderman announced the album on June 24, 2024, with the song "She's Leaving You," described by Pitchfork's Nina Corcoran as being about a middle-aged man undergoing a midlife crisis; its music video, directed by Whitmer Thomas and Clay Tatum, drew on "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and the film *Drop Dead Gorgeous*.[7](https://pitchfork.com/news/mj-lenderman-announces-new-album-manning-fireworks-shares-video-for-new-song-watch/) Recording began in December 2022, when Lenderman did not yet have a full album written, according to a Rolling Stone feature.[8](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/mj-lenderman-new-album-wednesday-66456/) The Anti- label page describes the record as made at Asheville's Drop of Sun during multiple four-day stints whenever Lenderman had a break from the road.[9](https://www.anti.com/artists/mj-lenderman/)
The sessions used a fairly bare-bones personnel setup. Lenderman reconnected with Alex Farrar, who also helmed Wednesday's *Rat Saw God*, and used much of the same gear, a mix of Hiwatt and Marshall amplifiers plus a Vox AC-30 that studio tech Nathan Culberson modified with new speakers and tubes to sound more like a vintage unit.[10](https://guitar.com/features/interviews/mj-lenderman-interview-manning-fireworks/) Lenderman said it was always the plan to make the record largely by himself, in contrast to his live shows with his band.[10](https://guitar.com/features/interviews/mj-lenderman-interview-manning-fireworks/)
## Songs and style
The album runs from the sparse, folksy title track through the four songs released as singles, closing with the ten-minute "Bark at the Moon."[4](https://mjlenderman.bandcamp.com/album/manning-fireworks) The track list is: "Manning Fireworks," "Joker Lips," "Rudolph," "Wristwatch," "She's Leaving You," "Rip Torn," "You Don't Know the Shape I'm In," "On My Knees," and "Bark at the Moon."[4](https://mjlenderman.bandcamp.com/album/manning-fireworks)
**Lyrics.** Critics consistently highlighted Lenderman's one-liners. The Associated Press quoted the oft-cited couplet "Kahlúa shooter / DUI scooter" from "Joker Lips" and called the record a kaleidoscope of brilliant lyrical short stories about pathetic people atop easy slacker rock melodies.[6](https://apnews.com/article/cc1c5c3690daebf29601ca4392801c7b) Pitchfork's Jeremy D. Larson compared Lenderman's dark, dry wit to [Warren Zevon](https://www.edgepedia.org/warren-zevon)'s and noted that both writers open songs with zingers.[3](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/mj-lenderman-manning-fireworks/) Lenderman told The New York Times that some lyrics were inspired by misogynistic podcasters such as [Andrew Tate](https://www.edgepedia.org/andrew-tate), and the Atlantic's reviewer read the album as often singing about other guys, linking sorrow and pigheadedness.[11](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/10/mj-lenderman-indie-rock/680107/) The closing track blends sad-sack character sketches with meta classic-rock references, quoting playing [Ozzy Osbourne](https://www.edgepedia.org/ozzy-osbourne)'s "Bark at the Moon" on Guitar Hero and punctuating the line with an "Awoo" to the tune of Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London."[2](https://music.apple.com/us/album/manning-fireworks/1749088991)
**Sound.** AllMusic's Mark Deming called the album a fusion of the contemplation of [Neil Young](https://www.edgepedia.org/neil-young)'s *[Harvest](https://www.edgepedia.org/harvest-neil-young-album)* and the release of *Zuma*, a small triumph of noisy roots rock.[12](https://www.allmusic.com/album/MW0004316417) Larson described the guitar playing as simple and understated, with slow-rolled riffs and short solos, lap steel from Xandy Chelmis, and fiddle from Landon George on "Rip Torn"; he found the whole thing polished and synchronized, nothing fractured or lo-fi about it.[3](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/mj-lenderman-manning-fireworks/) A retrospective on the indie-country boom noted Lenderman's use of pedal steel as a tonal color within otherwise lo-fi indie rock arrangements.[13](https://www.ftsmusic.com/articles/mj-lenderman-indie-country-boom-post-country)
## Reception
The album received universal acclaim from critics. Paste Magazine (92) called Lenderman a premier storyteller of broken hearts and bruised egos; Consequence (91) said his contributions to Waxahatchee's *[Tigers Blood](https://www.edgepedia.org/tigers-blood)* had already hinted at his standing in modern guitar music; Dusted Magazine (90) praised the wrecking-ball arrangements that turn loose squalls of feedback-laden electric guitar amid hazy swoons of strings.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/manning-fireworks/mj-lenderman/critic-reviews) Rolling Stone called it a more conventional singer-songwriter album than *Boat Songs*, not as loud or as funny.[14](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/mj-lenderman-manning-fireworks-review-66545/) [The Atlantic](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-atlantic) struck a more skeptical note, with its reviewer finding the pleasant, country-inflected record not indicative of a next big thing, while quoting Amanda Petrusich of The New Yorker, who wrote that it "could have been released in 1975, or 1994, or 2003" in a good way.[11](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/10/mj-lenderman-indie-rock/680107/)
Commercially, the album reached No. 2 on the UK's Official Country Artists Albums Chart, spending 68 weeks there, and peaked at No. 9 on the Independent Albums chart, No. 20 on the Physical Albums chart, and No. 29 on the Album Downloads chart, all with first chart dates of September 19, 2024.[5](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/mj-lenderman-manning-fireworks/) The Associated Press placed it among its top albums of 2024, calling it almost frustratingly addictive and an immediate classic for fans of alternative music.[6](https://apnews.com/article/cc1c5c3690daebf29601ca4392801c7b)
## Context in Lenderman's career
*Manning Fireworks* is Lenderman's fourth solo studio album, following *MJ Lenderman* (2019), *Ghost of Your Guitar Solo* (2021), and the 2022 breakthrough *Boat Songs*, with the live album *And the Wind (Live and Loose!)* appearing in between in 2023.[12](https://www.allmusic.com/album/MW0004316417) At the time of release Lenderman was 25 years old and remained a guitarist and songwriter in Wednesday, the Southern indie rock band fronted by his now ex-partner [Karly Hartzman](https://www.edgepedia.org/karly-hartzman); he had also played on Waxahatchee's *Tigers Blood* earlier in 2024.[3](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/mj-lenderman-manning-fireworks/) Pitchfork's review called the record outstanding and the mark of a songwriter finding his voice.[3](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/mj-lenderman-manning-fireworks/)
## References
1. [Critic Reviews for Manning Fireworks, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/manning-fireworks/mj-lenderman/critic-reviews)
2. [Manning Fireworks, MJ Lenderman, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/manning-fireworks/1749088991)
3. [MJ Lenderman: Manning Fireworks Album Review, Pitchfork (Jeremy D. Larson, September 6, 2024)](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/mj-lenderman-manning-fireworks/)
4. [Manning Fireworks by MJ Lenderman, Bandcamp (credits and tracklist)](https://mjlenderman.bandcamp.com/album/manning-fireworks)
5. [MANNING FIREWORKS, MJ LENDERMAN, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/mj-lenderman-manning-fireworks/)
6. [AP's top albums of 2024, Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/cc1c5c3690daebf29601ca4392801c7b)
7. [MJ Lenderman Announces New Album Manning Fireworks, Shares Video for New Song, Pitchfork (Nina Corcoran, June 24, 2024)](https://pitchfork.com/news/mj-lenderman-announces-new-album-manning-fireworks-shares-video-for-new-song-watch/)
8. [MJ Lenderman Is Indie Rock's Favorite Guitar Hero, Rolling Stone](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/mj-lenderman-new-album-wednesday-66456/)
9. [MJ Lenderman, ANTI- Records artist page](https://www.anti.com/artists/mj-lenderman/)
10. [How MJ Lenderman made the indie-rock record of the year, Guitar.com](https://guitar.com/features/interviews/mj-lenderman-interview-manning-fireworks/)
11. [What's the Appeal of Indie Rock's New Golden Boy?, The Atlantic (October 2, 2024)](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/10/mj-lenderman-indie-rock/680107/)
12. [Manning Fireworks Review by Mark Deming, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/MW0004316417)
13. [MJ Lenderman and the Indie-Country Boom Reshaping Roots Music, From The Stem](https://www.ftsmusic.com/articles/mj-lenderman-indie-country-boom-post-country)
14. [MJ Lenderman Delivers a Sad-Guy Indie-Rock Gem With 'Manning Fireworks', Rolling Stone (September 5, 2024)](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/mj-lenderman-manning-fireworks-review-66545/)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › Indie and alternative albums › Studio albums of the 2020s › Studio albums by solo artists*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license