This Is Lorelei – Dancing in the Club (MJ Lenderman Version)

Double Double Whammy

MJ Lenderman covering This Is Lorelei. I could probably stop the write-up there if I wanted to because if you’re a certain type of indie rock-loving, cigarette-smoking, five o'clock shadow-having, tousled hair-appreciating, music-loving burnout, then those names speak for themselves. Look no further than our 2024 AOTY list to read our rave recaps of Manning Fireworks and Box for Buddy, Box for Star, two knockout texts of dirtbag living guided forward by smoky guitar riffs, dancy grooves, pure-hearted lyricism, and unbridled ideas. 

Today, Nate Amos (aka This Is Lorelei) announced a deluxe version of his breakthrough LP from last year, complete with guest stars like MJ Lenderman and Snail Mail covering his songs, not to mention Bob and Sarah Amos, Nate’s own dad and sister. To give people a tease of what’s to come, today we’re lucky enough to hear “Dancing in the Club (MJ Lenderman Version),” which is a tastefully twangy version of the original Lorelei bop. This is coming after Lenderman had been playing the song live, existing alongside the likes of Smog, Warren Zevon, Neil Young, and Counting Crows as part of a rotating batch of covers that the North Carolina native busts out live. 

Amos and Lenderman recorded the song back in December, and the pairing fits so perfectly that you’d be forgiven if you didn’t realize it’s a cover. Maybe it’s that lines like “But a loser never wins / And I'm a loser, always been” would have fit in perfectly around any of the bummy characters that populate Manning Fireworks, or just that the dejected lyrics of the song feel tailor-made for Lenderman’s nonchalant mumble. Either way, it brings me great joy to hear MJ sing the words “Steely Dan.” If there was math to making a cover song, these guys cracked it.