Daily Dose: MJ Lenderman, “You Have Bought Yourself a Boat (Live)”

Daily Dose is your daily source for the song you absolutely, positively need to hear every day. Curated by the Paste Music Team.

Yes, yes, I’m aware. This is technically not a new song, but it also very much is. And I brought the Daily Dose back, so let me have this one. Wednesday guitarist and certified six-string badass Jake “MJ” Lenderman is putting out a live album, as any rock god worth his salt is wont to do at some point or another in his career. This move makes sense for Lenderman, especially, as the last 20 months have been pretty incredible for him. In March 2022, Wednesday released Mowing the Leaves Instead of Piling ‘Em Up; a month later, he put out his own solo record Boat Songs. A year after that, Wednesday dropped their masterpiece Rat Saw God. Earlier this summer, he released the double A-side “Knockin’” and “Rudolph” to much critical fanfare. If you don’t know Lenderman’s name by now, I don’t know what to tell you. Now’s the time to get hip.

Boat Songs is the one 2023 album that I return to the most. It gets better with every listen, I think, and I’ve remained adamant that “TLC Cagematch” is the greatest song of the last five years (I’m likely responsible for it being Lenderman’s most-streamed song on Apple Music). What Lenderman has become has been nothing short of a marvel. So few musicians have been able to achieve such deft, distinctive fame beyond the reach of their own main band projects. But what Jake does as MJ cannot be overlooked; there’s some sort of Asheville punk sorcery going on. It’s the only explanation for this shot of stardom. Or, I suppose, you could chalk it up to Lenderman just being one of the most talented and coolest artists around. That one is probably the real truth. And the Wind (Live and Loose!) is coming out on November 17; the reign of MJ Lenderman endures across renditions of beloved Boat Songs chapters and some Ghost of Your Guitar Solo favorites.

The album captures performances from Lenderman’s summer show at the Lodge Room in Los Angeles and his Pitchfork Music Festival aftershow in Chicago. He recruited Jon Samuels and Colin Miller to join him and his Wednesday bandmates Xandy Chelmis and Ethan Baechtold for the gigs, and I can’t remember the last time a band has sounded so tight (despite what the album’s title might suggest). He also, to no one’s surprise, called upon Drop of Sun Studios engineer Alex Farrar to mix and master the joint. From the jump of “You Have Bought Yourself a Boat,” Chelmis’ pedal steel comes roaring in on a gilded magic carpet that’s woven from silk. Lenderman’s vocals and axe-wielding are especially bright and moving, as his propensity for bold rock ‘n’ roll sounds as raw and unpredictable as a Neil Young show with the Stray Gators might have 50 years ago.

Given Lenderman’s (and Wednesday’s) habit of unloading new music at a pretty regular clip, I’m guessing that another MJ record is on the horizon, likely in 2024 sometime. I’ll be waiting eagerly, but I’m more than happy to live with what And the Wind is willing to give until then. Pre-save the upcoming LP here. Watch Lenderman and his bandmates perform “You Have Bought Yourself a Boat” below.