Block's “Lead Me Not Into Penn Station”: A re-released anti-folk landmark from New York's underground album.
Block's "Lead Me Not Into Penn Station" is not just an album; it's a time capsule of New York City's restless creative energy in the mid-1990s. Originally released in 1996 by Block as a grassroots hand-to-hand album, it is now being released in a long-overdue remastered edition through Meridian (ECR Music Group). With 10 tracks spanning folk, indie, and lo-fi sensibilities, the record captures the experimental center of the anti-folk movement while simultaneously establishing Block's rightful place as one of its true pioneers.
From the first moments of Lead Me Not Into Penn Station, the record positions itself as clever and still meaningful. “Rhinoceros,” inspired by Eugène Ionesco's absurdist play of the same name, highlights Block's interest in an intellectual reference in combination with grittier street-level songwriting. Block's choice to pair a hip-hop beat with a folk tune on this track was provocative, but it matches Block's style and their fluidity between trickster and seriousness.
The storytelling is the heart of the album. The ten tracks give you vivid pictures of life in New York's East Village, where Block lived in the attic of a record store and hung out with painters, filmmakers, and musicians. The realism and authenticity of the songs are what resonate with listeners. So many people love music about real life, and recordings that feel like a lived-in place. In this reissue, Blake Morgan's remastering preserves the energy and urgency of the original recordings but introduces a more nuanced clarity.
Now, the consistent influence or legacy of "Lead me not into Penn Station" is what makes the album particularly powerful today. At one time, it was an underground nugget passed around at gigs and opened up in back alley corners, but it has developed into a massive part of indie/folk-punk songwriting. This album is proof of that. It's clever, it's knowing, emotionally complex, and contradictory all at once.
Whether you're a longtime fan or just discovering Block's catalog for the first time, this re-release is a must-listen. Lead Me Not Into Penn Station is not only a tribute to the rebellious spirit of the anti-folk era, but a record that will never stop inspiring.
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Website: https://ecrmusicgroup.com/labels/meridian/block/
