NewMusic First Spin: Jay Reatard
August 11th, 2009
After making a great leap forward last year from the depths of the underground garage/punk scene to the overexposing indie rock circles, Jay Reatard keeps his prolific rep in tact with yet another new release. His singles collection for Matador was a nice experiment that rewarded longtime fans, but Jay returns with his first proper LP since the 2006 breakthrough, Blood Visions.
Though he’s not a fan of having to record full-lengths, this doesn’t sound like a disgruntled songwriter at work. In fact, Jay sounds pretty content for the scoundrel he is, leaving most of the ferocity from his earlier solo work behind for something a little more restrained, but also a hell of a lot more melodic.
Having established himself as more of a popsmith with last year’s Matador Singles ‘08, Jay has taken his patented buzzsaw garage and sanded it into some carefully considered power pop. The result is Watch Me Fall, a flat out, unapologetic pop record.
Has he turned his back on his roots? Well, yes and no. Lead single It Ain’t Gonna Save Me could have found its way onto Blood Visions, sure. So, depending on how you view him (A fire-breathing hellion who fronted The Reatards as a teenager? Or a shrewd dude who realizes that rehashing the same stuff every time kills artists dead?) it’s fair to say he sounds both different and similar on this record. The razor sharp riffs have been rounded with flecks of ’60s pop, the blood curdling screams have been tamed into bellows and howls, and well, there are strings and more of those acoustic guitars on the lovely Hang Them All. But there’s no arguing that this is the ‘Tard at his best.
While I’m Watching You sounds 45 years old and English, like it was dug up from the Kinks’ formative years, Rotten Mind finds him working at his trademark breakneck pace, but toning down the aggro and actually, y’know, harmonizing. Nothing Now, on the other hand sounds goth enough to justify that album cover, which suggests Jay relocated to Norway to become a black metaller and burn churches part-time.
All in all, he’s bound to lose some fans here. But I’m guessing he’s gonna double that total in gaining new ones. The perfect summer album for disaffected youth across the country, indeed.
Listen to it here.
Artist: Jay Reatard
Album: Watch Me Fall
Release Date: August 18, 2009
Label: Matador Records
Genre: Lo-Fi Indie Rock
Author: Cam Lindsay
Track Listing:
- It Ain’t Gonna Save Me
- Before I Was Caught
- Man Of Steel
- Can’t Do It Anymore
- Faking It
- I’m Watching You
- Wounded
- Rotten Mind
- Nothing Now
- My Reality
- Hang Them All
- There Is No Sun
Tags: first spin, jay reatard
Posted on Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 at 4:09 pm by Alberto and is filed under Reviews, The New Music.
