Jeffrey Lewis And The Junkyard – ''Em Are I' review
It’s incredibly difficult to dislike Jeffrey Lewis. He’s multi-talented, humble, witty and intelligent. His schtick is that of the modest, honest bloke who writes cracking little tragicomic songs. And ’Em Are I, Lewis’ fifth album proper, continues in the same ramshackle, homespun vein, with one noticeable absence: the tragicomedy that was previously so abundant is largely gone, replaced not with newfound gravitas but just tedium.
So instead of wry musings on the everyday, we have songs like Roll Bus Roll, about how, if you’re taking a long bus trip, a rolled-up jumper provides a good makeshift pillow, and while getting two seats to yourself is nice because you can stretch out, one is, y’know, fine too. Oh, and he prefers the window seat to the aisle too, if he has the choice. In terms of interest or humour, The Chelsea Hotel Oral Sex Song this ain’t.
However, while much of ’Em Are I is mundane, some is almost offensively disingenuous. In Whistle Past The Graveyard, we find Lewis wondering what will happen if he goes to Hell. He concludes: “People who assume you’ll suffer there are just selfish / If I were in Hell I’d be happy knowing other people were in heaven / It would make Hell not so hellish”, an opinion that is at best irritatingly self-effacing and, at worst, plain bollocks. Hitherto, it’s always been incredibly difficult to dislike Jeffrey Lewis. With ’Em Are I, that characteristic is dwindling.
5/10
