Matthew Levinson

Jens Lekman @ Mudd Club, Berlin 15/04/05

Published on 04/06/05
by matt

Jens in Berlin
Something about Jens Lekman’s tongue-in-cheek take on folky pop – music that’s often dominated by over-earnest songwriters too traumatised to cut it in public – suggested he could be a good live performer.
A couple of cute girls wandered out onto the Mudd Club stage. One was a mod, in sharp bob, playing bass. The other one was a rocker, on percussion and backup vocals. They glowed their way through the gig, while a couple of guys sat in behind on drums and guitar, serving up a fun fruit salad of acoustic indie pop, calypso rhythms and odd little cabaret moments.
Dressed in a red t-shirt, his short curly hair poking out from under an old cloth hat, Lekman looked like Superman’s copy-boy sidekick Jimmy Olsen. His warm voice reminds me of Morrissey, though where the coiffed one tends towards bleak, suicidally black humour, Lekman is closer to cheeky irony. I’ve always thought a little too loaded up on irony. But live it makes sense. His cheeky grin, and the big white corsage on his guitar instantly charmed the crowd.
The 100 or so pilsener-clutching Berliners were hooked by the indie cabaret. But a handful of American tourists kept talking. So Lekman unplugged his microphone, put down his guitar and played the final few tracks (a couple of his own, and a cover of early ‘80s mutant disco producer Arthur Russell) unplugged with a ukelele. It was twee of course, it was a ukelele! But despite the fact that nobody could hear a thing, it was wonderful.

Tell me how any sane person could resist lines like “If I’m your psychologist / then who’s the psychologist’s psychologist?” or “I’m not a political fighter / I don’t even have a cigarette lighter”.

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