Image of Jay Reatard by jaycobs
#8 Matador Singles '08 by Jay Reatard (Matador Records)
"Jay Reatard didn't release an album this year, you idiot. A singles collection is not an album!"
Hey! Not cool, disembodied voice attacking me on my own blog! But you do have a point, to which I respond by saying that sometimes a singles collection is not a singles collection. Jay did release a singles collection this year titled Singles 06-07, collecting, oddly enough, the singles he released in '06 and '07. Matador Singles '08 is not really a singles collection, though - Jay signed with Matador Records this year and wanted to put out a series of six 7" over six months this year. The singles were printed in a very limited edition, though, and people had trouble finding them. This was not a big issue, though, because Jay was planning on bundling them together and releasing them on CD in October anyway. The singles were really just promos to draw attention to the album they were pulled from, and it worked. I'm surprised that more bands don't do this - it has worked well for bands like Bishop Allen, raising their profile and exposure in an ever-shrinking music-news cycle and giving bloggers something new to talk about every month. Maybe they don't do it because you end up with an album with a confusing title like Matador Singles '08.
Jay Reatard is Jay Lindsey - I found this out when Amazon.com got skittish about printing his nom de plume and started listing his albums under his real name. He's a pretty young guy who's been kicking around the Memphis punk scene (such as it is) for a while. I'd never heard of him until the release of his breakthrough album Blood Visions last year - it drew some attention because of the photo of Jay on the front cover in his briefs covered in blood. The weird thing is that everyone is pretending like they've known about him for ages. Reviews and articles talk about how he's been a prolific artist for years and dropping the names of his early albums with the Reatards as if they own them. The truth is that everyone just found out about him, and the timing is good because he's making huge leaps in his songwriting right now and people should be paying attention.
The Blood Visions record was gritty pop-punk, with an emphasis on sneering attitude and relentless velocity. But the pop hooks were there, and Jay's singing has always been influenced by the clipped, yelping style of post-punk as much as the real punk vocalists. And he's been spending his time since releasing that album coaxing out the pop hooks in his songs by varying his approach and developing some interesting ways of recording his songs to get all kinds of different sounds. Of the six singles that make up Matador Singles '08, only one of them is really "punk". The first three singles showcase great songs like the more-lighthearted-than-they-sound "Painted Shut", "An Ugly Death", and "Screaming Hand". They are very pop-oriented and fun, and the fourth single was a neat surprise, a cover of Deerhunter's "Fluorescent Grey". The fifth single was the punk one, containing three songs that sound close to the Wire/Buzzcocks sound of the 06-07 singles. The sixth single, which Jay has said is a fair representation of where he's going with his songwriting, toned things down even more, borrowing from the cute and quirky style of the kiwi-pop of New Zealand in the '80s. Jay is growing fast as a pop talent and releasing a lot of great material - it won't be too long before people won't have to pretend that they've known about him for ages.
"Always Wanting More" by Jay Reatard
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