I was very happy with this review, and pleased that the editor was prepared to print it. Apologies for the over-zealous spacing, I can't fix this when pasting the text in, and don't fancy retyping the whole thing.
JEFFREY LEWIS & THE VOLTAGE/ MAX BLANSJAAR/ THE DUMPLINGS, Divine Schism, Florence Park Community Centre, 30/9/22
Jeffrey Lewis has a method of accompanying tunes
With a bunch of rhyming couplets and some Powerpoint cartoons,
And with these micro-TEDx talks he gives us the straight dope
On the birth of NY punk acts, and on Star Wars: A New Hope;
Also covered, just to show the breadth of scope that Jeff’s got
Are the second Evil Dead film and the great Fitzgerald, F. Scott.
These poems are instructive and they entertain just fine
Even though there are sometimes far more syllables than can comfortably fit into a single line.
His songs are also playful, and are certainly conducive,
All new wave lofi antifolk with rhymes like Dr Seuss’s.
Lewis’s guitar-playing is neither big nor fancy,
But listen closely and you’ll find it’s sweet, and quite Bert Jansch-y
(Although it must be said he is not wary of the joys
Of extended abstract passages and grating feedback noise).
The lyrics touch on common themes with open honesty,
Like the pains of breaking up or taking too much LSD.
The backing band is hot, but know not to get in the way
Of the neat melodic songs nor all the witty things they say –
In this respect he’s mirrored by Max Blansjaar, his support,
A young local songwriter who has definitely sought
Some of the best musicians to be found in Oxford city
But they never overshadow any quirky little ditty.
(We also saw The Dumplings whom we’d hardly say were tight
But those who don’t enjoy it must have hearts of anthracite.)
Some of the show is clownish, and some of it even loonier,
Like a song on getting ghosted borrowed from Ray Parker Jr.
But for all we’re painting Lewis like a wacky old gag-vendor,
The lyrics often turn out to be touching, sad, or tender,
And the jokes end up quite moving, must have been the way he told ‘em -
And walking home through Florence Park we swear we saw Will Oldham.
