Jeffrey Lewis & the Voltage, “LPs” (Don Giovanni)
Cult New York City indie rocker Jeffrey Lewis has a genius for conversational lyrics about life (“The Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane,” “You Don’t Have to Be a Scientist to Do Experiments on Your Own Heart,” “Seattle,” etc.) and, more importantly, music nerdery, of which “LPs” off the new Bad Wiring album might be the pinnacle. Lewis has released entire full-lengths devoted to the songs of British anarcho punks Crass and the Fugs’ comedian-poet Tuli Kupferberg, so his cred is impeccable. This may be a minority opinion, but Jeffrey Lewis should be at least as poplar as fellow awkward-voiced troubadours the Mountain Goats. Alas, that is not the case.
Be that as it may, “LPs” exudes sheer joy for the accumulation of vinyl recordings in the grand tradition of R. Stevie Moore‘s “Records.” The song’s a treasure trove of quotable lines about Lewis’s obsession (e.g., “I started getting shakes whenever I passed a huge record store”), which began in the ’90s when vinyl had lost much of its value as compact discs became the dominant format. The only quibble I have is this: “If the year was from the ’60s, it was probably good bang for your buck/If the year was from the ’80s, it was guaranteed to totally suck.” Come on, Jeff… never write off an entire decade of music.
Musically, “LPs” pumps adrenaline in the manner of the Modern Lovers’ “I Wanna Sleep in Your Arms” and the Lyres’ “Don’t Give It Up Now.” There’s a plot twist, though: Late in the song, Lewis comes out in praise of… CDs—because they’re cheap as fuck now and they often have bonus tracks. He’s not wrong. This is peak thin-wristed garage rock about a subject that couldn’t be dearer to my heart. (Bad Wiring comes out November 1.)
Jeffrey Lewis & the Voltage play the Victory Lounge Saturday, November 9.
