Jeffrey Lewis/ Liverpool Barfly/ 07.05.09

A great number of this country’s anti-social and depressive tendencies could probably be remedied fairly quickly if Jeffrey Lewis’ brand of nihilistic, quick-witted optimism was available on prescription from the NHS.
Prior to his onstage appearance, Lewis can be found at the merchandise table, drawing cartoons on the backs of Rizla packets and scraps of paper for excitable swarms of twenty-somethings with enormous Cheshire Cat grins.
Onstage, he obtains the same reaction from the entire audience. An amazingly adept storyteller, Lewis is at times uproarious (‘Good Old Pig, Gone To Avalon’) and others endearingly touching (‘Alphabet’), and the audience is transfixed and awe-struck for the entire show.
Songs ‘No LSD Tonight’ and ‘Williamsberg Will Oldham Horror’ are delivered pitch perfect and prove Lewis’ prowess for live shows - songs which surely can’t be improved upon, are further buffed up into sparkling, impassioned vignettes of imaginative comedic observation.
Song’s off new album ‘Em are I’ sound particularly amazing, with ‘Broken, broken, broken heart’ delivering a crushed, heart-yearning set of lyrics against an ironically-upbeat melody of pure determined optimism.
The show is essentially flawless, at times it can be heavier than anticipated, and the songs shudder out excitedly. Lewis’ backing band are an exceptional bunch too, delivering powerful, quirky and personality heavy backing vocals, beats and melodies which supportively enhance every sublime moment.
Like an anti-folk Harvey Pekar, Lewis also demonstrates his craft for comic books with what he calls his ‘low-budget short films’. Flipping through cartoon filled A2 sketch books, he regales the audience with poetic tales of finding a hand on the floor, a detective detecting the oddball plot twists of his own story, and a concise history of communism - which, under Lewis’ deft ability and charisma, is more entertaining than is even fathomable.

Published on the-fly.co.uk and rockindustry.co.uk.