Spleen,

The thing I like about your post is that it doesn't just state "punk is british".

Too often the claim is made that 'america never had a punk revolution unlike Britian and thats why they'll never understand things like irony or get some other aspects of British culture' etc etc ... you know the kind of thing.

Jeffrey Lewis does well to dispel that Myth.

And by the way, yes I've seen Lewis twice and he is awesome live.

The first time, the show began with a bit of low fi punk noise with a dancer wearing a suit covered in hands which made me wonder initially whether it was going to be my thing or just a floppy teenage punk night.

Lewis himself was consistent with the spirit of that, but his lyrical mastery is something to behold.

He comes across as shy, awkward, geeky, unassuming and you'd miss him if it wasn't for the sense of hush and anticipation in the room that kept your mind open to the ossibility that something interesting was about to happen.

He deliberately plays his guitar in a simplistic non showy way and then mumbles at the crowd in a self effacing almost embarrassed voice like a teenager whose vocal chords are starting to change.

But then you are hit by his absolute mastery of the English language, his wit and his ability to refer in a very original way to numerous cultural influences.

There is nothing ostentatious or overdone about his language (unlike mine!!!) he makes everything sound simple and even a bit dumb, but comparing him to someone like steinbeck in this regard doesn't feel inappropriate to me - he is simple in style, but extremely sophisticated in content.

And that is his greatest strength. He sells himself purely on the strength of his wordcraft with the only arguable gimmick being a deliberate lack of Gimmicks.

My favourite song of his is his tribute to leonard cohens chelsea hotel