Manning Fireworks

Honestly, the more I listen to it, the more I find bumps and cracks that slowly lowers my level of enjoyment.

Firstly, as a whole, the project is a net positive. It has a varied approach from alt country, slacker rock, to indie and even a breed of softer rock with a country shade. The color of MJ is still there, and his lethargic delivery is one of the key reasons I enjoyed his s/t album.

Now for the other side of the coin. Bark at the Moon is a dud. I know he probably meant for it to be a track that you anticipate for the entire duration of the album, but once it does arrive, you're treated with a 2-minute proper song structure followed by 8 minutes of drone that sours your entire listening experience. Going off of that, his songwriting is at moments iffy, but its passable and, hell, even enjoyable for the most part.

In an optimistic part of my mind, I did expect more, but realistically, too much Wednesday bleeds onto this one. To a lesser extent than on Boat Songs, for sure, but still more than I would like. The thing is good, but I wish he would return to his 2019 form.