News: Jay Reatard Died Last Night

Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr., better known as Jay Reatard, died in his sleep last night, at age 29. He was a brilliant songwriter and put on one hell of a live show. Above all, he was an inspiring figure both musically and personally to many in our scene. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.


Official statement by Matador Records...

What I Missed in 2008

Gearing up for the year-end lists and decade-end lists, here's a list of the albums that should have been in my "Best of 2008" list but weren't.

First off, these should have at least been considered:

• Eat Skull - Sick to Death (Siltbreeze)
  
• Jay Reatard - Matador Singles (Matador)
  
• Parts & Labor - Receivers (Jagjaguar)

Now here's what's most glaringly missing:

4. No Age - Nouns (SubPop)
I had some misconceptions about No Age that caused my brain to subconsciously dislike whatever I heard by them. Then one day last spring, I was listening to Nouns and suddenly I got it. Noise pop/punk at its absolute best.

3. The Mae Shi - HLLLYH (Moshi Moshi)
This one I just totally missed. It's a ballsy noise rock album about bible stories and religion. I like to holler along.

2. TV on the Radio - Dear Science (Interscope)
I think I made up a rule for myself specifically to disqualify this album because I could not properly wrap my brain around it. Turns out the only problem was I was trying to hear it as a rock album. If you need to contextualize music you listen to, this is a tricky one because you have to think of it simultaneously as an indie rock album and as an R&B/soul album. When you do, it makes perfect sense why this album was #1 for so many people. It's stunning.

1. Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life (Matador)
This one also came in totally under my radar. It takes hardcore punk to an entirely new level. It should have been my #1. (Sorry, Marnie!)

The great thing about blogging is that it's never too late to fix your mistakes! Lots more lists coming up soon!

Album: Jay Reatard - Watch Me Fall

Album: Watch Me Fall
Matador, 2009
Rating: ******* (7/10)

If Watch Me Fall were the first thing I'd heard of Jay Reatard, it would be pretty mindblowing. The album is a series of top-notch lo-fi pop songs, in that rare vein of lo-fi pop that isn't wussy. Among the recent explosion of lo-fi/noise pop/noise punk bands, Reatard certainly numbers among the best songwriters out there.

Also in comparison to that crowd (Wavves, Times New Viking, Kurt Vile, Blank Dogs, etc.), he's not the lowest fi, nor the noisiest. His music is aggressive and at times intentionally hard to swallow, but sonically, it's palatable. The more challenging elements are Reatard's vocal delivery and the album's ornery subject matter. He doesn't have the air of cool that many recent lo-fiers cultivate, and the vulnerability he achieves in his music is at once refreshing and alarming after a slew of detached albums in the genre.

Where Watch Me Fall disappoints is its failure to step beyond the boundaries of earlier Reatard releases. Though the album features some of Reatard's best songs, it's ultimately not a step forward. We could all use more good songs like these, but it's hard to get excited about an album that sounds so familiar, even if it also sounds this good.

The record opens strongly with the forward, melodic punk of "It Ain't Gonna Save Me." The mid-disc highlight is "I'm Watching You," which takes the tempo down just a notch to open up the sound and make the composition one of Reatard's largest. Other songs, like "Rotten Mind" and "There Is No Sun" showcase the songwriter's signature negativity as charmingly as ever (and that's not sarcastic).

Watch Me Fall is a solid and enjoyable album and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys Reatard's 2008 Matador Singles compilation (which is the best place for new listeners to start). Just don't get your hopes up that he'll break new ground. Then again, the old ground covered is pretty damn good.

[MySpace]

Live: Jay Reatard

When: 7/1
Where: Stuyvensant Oval

I've obviously fallen hopelessly behind on my live reviews, but I'm trying to catch up. Summer is not a good time for deadlines and work ethic, I hope you can excuse the delays!

Jay Reatard is a junior high dropout who makes sharp, burning garage punk, packed to capacity with bright hooks and riffs. I'd heard his live show was even more exciting than his recordings, so I was pretty eager to check it out.

My reaction was mixed however. On the one hand, the band, whose proto-grunge hair-metal look was straight out of 1988 Seattle, rocked hard. Head banging, unwashed hair flying, Flying V's wailing, this is rock music at it's rockin'est. Visually, the band reminds me of the Meat Puppets in more ways than one, and there's some parallels between their music. From Reatard and his band's fashion and their technique, it's clear they don't reject all rock traditions. Like the Meat Puppets, they are punk rock but don't throw the baby out with the bath water. There's nothing wrong with nice lead guitar work and a nice head of hair.

On the other hand, Reatard's fast and frantic delivery obscured many of the hooks in both the vocals and the guitar. If I weren't familiar with a lot of the songs, I would have been unimpressed, since without their strong tunes at the forefront, they all sounded the same.

Ultimately, I enjoyed the show, but for new listeners, I'd highly recommend checking out some of the recorded singles before showing up at a concert. Reatard may blast energetic garage noise better than most people around, but its his songwriting that makes him worthy of your attention. And you might not hear that at the show, but you can't miss it on a single released track of his recent career.

[MySpace]

Upcoming Shows: Woodsist Festival, Germs + more

Wednesday, July 1

Jay Reatard @ Stuyvesant Oval | StuyTown, East Village, Manhattan | FREE
Punk/lo-fi master Jay Reatard has written so many mess little pop songs in the last few years it's hard to keep up. You should go to this show. But be advised it starts on the early side (officially 6 PM, though my guess is Jay goes on at 8 PM). TV Smith (see below) might be opening, that is not clear. [MySpace]

Hunters @ Cake Shop | LES, Manhattan | $6
I really liked Hunters last time I saw them. Aggressive, arty punk music that's surprisingly free of cliche. [MySpace]


Thursday, July 2

Jay Reatard, TV Smith (ex-Adverts) @ Music Hall of Williamsburg | Williamsburg, Brooklyn | $15
Well, I just told you about Jay Reatard (see above). TV Smith was one of the key founders of British punk. His band, the Adverts, were contemporaries of the Sex Pistols and certainly have a place alongside the Clash, X-Ray Spex, the Buzzcocks and a handful of others in the pantheon of pioneering English punks. [JR MySpace] [TVS MySpace]

Germs @ Mercury Lounge | LES, Manhattan | $14 adv/$16 doors
This week is Independence Day, so perhaps it's better not to support old British punks like TV Smith. A more patriotic option is to check out the Germs, one of LA's original punk bands, contemporaries of bands like X and Black Flag. The reunited Germs, however, are missing founder and singer Darby Crash, who committed suicide in 1980, at age 22. [MySpace]


Friday, July 3

Sonic Youth @ United Palace | Washington Heights, Manhattan | $38-$45
I don't think you should pay this much to see Sonic Youth. But if you really wanna...

Grooms @ Bruar Falls | Williamsburg, Brooklyn | $7
Grooms, fka Muggabears, are pretty awesome gloomy-but-melodic post punk. They follow the American tradition, sounding far more like Sonic Youth than Joy Division. They are one of NYC's best. [MySpace]

Woodsist/Captured Tracks Festival @ 979 Broadway Backyard | Bushwick, Brooklyn| $15
+ Crystal Stilts - Despite being lazy and self-entitled, this band sounds like Joy Division and I love their music. Like Joy Division, there are a lot of understated riffs in the bass line with repeating guitar over the top and morose, baritone vocals. [MySpace]
+ Blank Dogs - This lo-fi goth didn't impress me last time I saw it live, but I've become increasingly impressed by the recorded material. I'm hoping the show I saw live was just a fluke and that they will actually be awesome. [MySpace]
+ Psychedelic Horseshit - Not a personal favorite, due to their pretentiousness, but they have some merit, for sure. Their name describes their sound better than I could. [MySpace]
+ CAUSE co-MOTION! - C-86 revival with brilliant lo-fi pop numbers under two minutes. [MySpace]
+ Little Girls - Highly recommended. [MySpace]
+ more


Saturday, July 4

Woodsist/Captured Tracks Festival @ 979 Broadway Backyard | Bushwick, Brooklyn| $15
+ Thee Oh Sees - Shamefully, I'm not that familiar with this band's music, but they are considered to be one of the best of the recent noise punk movement. I have high hopes. [MySpace]
+ Vivian Girls - Yawwwwwn. This set will be a good time to go grab a bite. [MySpace]
+ Kurt Vile - Lo-fi folkster and recent signee to Matador. [MySpace]
+ Woods - One of the best bands around. Haunting psychedelic folk that I've written loads about already. [MySpace]
+ Tyvek - Awesome punks from Detroit. I liked them last I saw them. [MySpace]
+ Dum Dum Girls - These guys are a somewhat less boring version of the Vivian Girls. [MySpace]
+ Fresh & Onlys - Another band I have heard great things about but haven't had a chance to listen to properly yet. All I know is that they are psychedelic and people like them. [MySpace]
+ more

Frankie Rose, Fresh & Onlys, Pink Reason, Babies (members of Woods, Vivian Girls) @ Market Hotel | Bushwick, Brooklyn | $5 with Woodsist stamp / $8
Frankie Rose is the drummer of Crystal Stilts. I don't know what she does solo. Hopefully not just pound on a floor tom. Fresh & Onlys I described above. This show starts at midnight, well after the end of the Woodsist festival.


Monday, July 6

Peter Murphy @ Highline Ballroom | Chelsea, Manhattan | $35
Pete Murphy is the original goth, the frontman of Bauhaus.


Tuesday, July 7

Peter Murphy @ Highline Ballroom | Chelsea, Manhattan | $35
See above.