Jeffrey Lewis

Despite a history of paying tribute to heroes (see "Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror"), an album of Crass covers is a ballsy move for an anti-folk singer-songwriter. With a significant poetic license in one hand and an acoustic guitar in the other, Lewis nevertheless manages to make this exercise in self-indulgence work. Covers of "Systematic Death," "Punk Is Dead" and "Do They Owe Us a Living" -- sung in a monotone, almost despondent voice -- might at first only seem like novelty items, but his unwavering devotion to a cause juste makes you want to convert.

When you come home from a bad day at work, drained by the endless sleaze-storm of the
world, there's never been anything like putting on an old Crass record and hearing the
anarchist U.K. punks scream their classic "Do They Owe Us a Living?" Until now. Because for
some nutty reason, anti-folk songwriter and comic-book artist Jeffrey Lewis has taken a
bunch of great Crass songs and given them fresh, funny new musical settings. His... More >