Cowboy Clean, the new solo project from New York musician Matt Leibowitz, arrives with a defined and uneasy atmosphere. Leibowitz—whose past work includes bands like Prison and Donald Cumming—now steps forward alone with the debut EP “Rubber Knife,” set for release on February 13, and introduced today by its opening single video, “Grendel.”
The immediate signature is the voice; it’s got the grit of classic country storytelling in tension between organic warmth and synthetic coolness, a cowboy trapped in the treacherous back alleys of a Ralph Bakshi strip. It evokes the feeling of a lone figure not on an open plain but in a city at night, where the glow of streetlights replaces campfire light and the vices tower over the tenements and billboards. Think of it as the soundtrack that plays in the dingy motel where the rhinestone outlaw hides in after a heist gone wrong.
Thematically, “Rubber Knife” deals with internal conflict and quiet change. The title suggests a tool that is menacing yet ineffective, a symbol for struggles that are sharp but not fatal.
"Grendel" explicitly frames ambition as a primal force like that of the mythical creature, questioning how to harness it without being consumed. The music video reflects this with stark, compelling imagery of containment and release. Throughout the EP, there is a sense of searching for solid ground. Tracks like "End Game," as Leibowitz has noted, come from the realization of having lost one's way and the slow work of finding a path back.
“Rubber Knife” is quite flexible, and “Grendel” is the straight-up best example of it, adopting a nice, vintage stoner rock vibe. The music video is psychedelic and claustrophobic, hammering in the analog visuals to impart to us the sense of a bad trip. Musically, it shades of other stuff, like The Misfits’ “Legacy of Brutality” and some further, subtle accents of Pink Turns Blue or even Type O Negative here and there. None of these elements overpower the identity that Leibowitz is building for this new project; they merely empower it and contextualize it.
We had the chance to hear the full EP ahead of its release, and it reveals a level of control and cohesion that feels fully formed. It luxuriates in synth-forward gloss when it needs to and then strips away the excess to reveal something grittier and closer to post-punk in temperament. The cohesion comes from mood rather than formula. Everything inhabits the same dimly lit room, even as the furniture shifts.
The project opens in a shadowy register with a kind of sinister elegance that feels more nocturnal than seasonal. The synths sway with a disturbed sense of play, and things take on a quietly unnerving charm. As the record unfolds, industrial textures seep in and out, giving the material a cold metallic edge that occasionally hints at European electronics before dissolving into a sleeker new-wave pulse.
The full release arrives in February. Until then, listeners can dive into the “Grendel” video single and follow the subsequent drops leading up to the EP. Patience will pay off with this one.
