Album: City & Eastern Songs
Artist: Jeffrey Lewis
Born: Lower East Side, New York City
Released: May 2005
Genre: Folk
To my mind, Jeffrey Lewis is one of the best lyricists alive today. Few musicians have so perfectly captured the experience of not quite making it as a pop or rock star, but still having a small, cult following. He's also a wonderful live performer; I've been lucky enough to catch him at festivals (Field Day 2008, Green Man 2014) and live gigs (underneath the Charing Cross arches at Heaven in 2011) and he always puts on an entertaining show, often making room for his comic book-based songs. One great example is his animated biopic of legendary comic book writer, Alan Moore. Lewis is also working on a complete history of communism and his section on Vietnam was one of the highlights of his set at Green Man. Lewis often gets labelled as an "anti-folk" musician, which in essence means using the earnestness of the early 60s folk sound (circa Another Side Of Dylan) to address frivolous modern-day issues, but it's a misleading genre tag. Lewis has evolved a great deal, moving away from his early lo-fi approach to a richer pop sound, so the anti-folk label only applies (if at all) to his early records, of which City & Eastern Songs is one of the last. The tag also doesn't take into account Lewis' punk rock ethic, which has come to the fore on 12 Crass Songs (his 2007 folk reworking of songs by British anarcho-punks Crass) and 2013 single, WWPRD (what would Pussy Riot Do?).
The other key element of his music is the humour, and few songs are as funny and brilliant as Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror, this album's standout track. Lewis often takes aims at hipsters and New York suburb Williamsburg was renowned as a hipster hotbed, but the song is less about them or even Bonnie "Prince" Billy / Will Oldham, but more about the anxieties of trying to live a creative life and the feeling of always being in the shadow of those that came before you ("And I'm sure the thing is probably Dylan himself too stayed up some nights wishing he was as good as Ginsberg or Camus"). I've not too sure about the song's ending though. Lewis has written several great songs about the impact of being a struggling artist on his relationships (notably Cult Boyfriend), while his eye for detail also makes him a brilliant writer of songs about taking drugs, notably Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane. On this record, he sings about moving house (Moving) and promoting his gigs (Posters), but he's never better than when writing about his neuroses, especially as regards his love life. The best example is Don't Be Upset, another highlight on the record, inspired by the Velvet Underground in its sound and full of refreshing and insightful honesty about trying to make it as a musician or comic book writer. This LP remains my favourite Jeffrey Lewis album, but I still have the feeling that he's yet to make his masterpiece.
To my mind, Jeffrey Lewis is one of the best lyricists alive today. Few musicians have so perfectly captured the experience of not quite making it as a pop or rock star, but still having a small, cult following. He's also a wonderful live performer; I've been lucky enough to catch him at festivals (Field Day 2008, Green Man 2014) and live gigs (underneath the Charing Cross arches at Heaven in 2011) and he always puts on an entertaining show, often making room for his comic book-based songs. One great example is his animated biopic of legendary comic book writer, Alan Moore. Lewis is also working on a complete history of communism and his section on Vietnam was one of the highlights of his set at Green Man. Lewis often gets labelled as an "anti-folk" musician, which in essence means using the earnestness of the early 60s folk sound (circa Another Side Of Dylan) to address frivolous modern-day issues, but it's a misleading genre tag. Lewis has evolved a great deal, moving away from his early lo-fi approach to a richer pop sound, so the anti-folk label only applies (if at all) to his early records, of which City & Eastern Songs is one of the last. The tag also doesn't take into account Lewis' punk rock ethic, which has come to the fore on 12 Crass Songs (his 2007 folk reworking of songs by British anarcho-punks Crass) and 2013 single, WWPRD (what would Pussy Riot Do?).
The other key element of his music is the humour, and few songs are as funny and brilliant as Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror, this album's standout track. Lewis often takes aims at hipsters and New York suburb Williamsburg was renowned as a hipster hotbed, but the song is less about them or even Bonnie "Prince" Billy / Will Oldham, but more about the anxieties of trying to live a creative life and the feeling of always being in the shadow of those that came before you ("And I'm sure the thing is probably Dylan himself too stayed up some nights wishing he was as good as Ginsberg or Camus"). I've not too sure about the song's ending though. Lewis has written several great songs about the impact of being a struggling artist on his relationships (notably Cult Boyfriend), while his eye for detail also makes him a brilliant writer of songs about taking drugs, notably Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane. On this record, he sings about moving house (Moving) and promoting his gigs (Posters), but he's never better than when writing about his neuroses, especially as regards his love life. The best example is Don't Be Upset, another highlight on the record, inspired by the Velvet Underground in its sound and full of refreshing and insightful honesty about trying to make it as a musician or comic book writer. This LP remains my favourite Jeffrey Lewis album, but I still have the feeling that he's yet to make his masterpiece.
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