Jeffrey Lewis Talks Watchmen, Daniel Johnston, Crass, 'Em Are I

Like a great many American acts, Jeffrey Lewis is better known across the pond. Born and raised in the East Village, and currently dwelling in Brooklyn, Lewis is as New York as they come, but it's in England that he's found his most receptive audience. The Guardian calls him "one of America's funniest, most sincere songwriters," former Pulp frontman/style icon/foppish rake Jarvis Cocker "the best lyricist working in the US today."

Lewis's career has been built around his lyrics. Introduced to the world by glorified home-recordings that found Lewis strumming rudimentary tunes on an acoustic guitar, Lewis brought alive wondrous autobiographical worlds via his words; narrating his insecurities, often at great speed, in an otherwise-unspectacular, vaguely adenoidal voice.

Lewis's slowly-growing cult following has come as somewhat of a surprise to the songwriter, who's number one love has always been authoring comic-books. Writing a dissertation on Watchmen for his graduating literary thesis over a decade ago, Lewis has recently delivered a series of lectures —in America, England, and Australia— on the comic, in the wake of the Hollywood version thereof.

In a recent interview with Jeffrey Lewis, he talked to me about the Watchmen movie, his love of Daniel Johnston, Donovan, and Crass, and his latest longplayer, 'Em Are I.

• Full Review: Jeffrey Lewis & the Junkyard, 'Em Are I
• Listen: Jeffrey Lewis & the Junkyard "Slogans"
• Watch: Jeffrey Lewis & the Junkyard "To Be Objectified"
• Read: Jeffrey Lewis's New York Times blog