Weekly Release Spotlight: Jay Reatard

Posted on 9/21/2009

Jay Reatard

Watch Me Fall

[Matador]

It takes a lot of talent to make a career out of being creepy, and Memphis native Jimmy Lindsey has succeeded at it for almost 15 years. A veteran of dozens of projects (including The Lost Sounds, The Reatards, and Angry Angles in addition to the Jay Reatard solo moniker) and one of the forerunners of the modern garage revival, Lindsey comes with his own folklore. He's written an entire catalog of songs about violent death, appeared covered in blood and nearly naked on an album cover, swears unapologetically, and is rumored to have been involved in several bar brawls and what seems like a disproportionate number of chair-throwing incidents. But anyone who has ever met him will attest that offstage and in person, Lindsey is polite as can be. On Watch Me Fall, the distinctive abrasiveness of Jay Reatard has been brought down a few notches, giving way to a newer, more agreeable pop sound. Gone are the screaming, the layers of fuzz and (most of) the references to blood and death. Watch Me Fall is the real Jimmy Lindsey - likable and charming.

Lindsey's story is a familiar one in the garage-rock world: teenager records in bedroom, sends tape to influential indie label (Goner Records), the head of which just happens to be a former member of teenager's favorite band (Eric Friedl of The Oblivians). He released his debut as Jay Reatard, Blood Visions, on In the Red Records in 2006 and within a couple years was signed to Matador, which released Matador Singles '08. Around this time, Lindsey's songwriting made a marked movement toward the pop end of the spectrum. The songs became less distorted and less rough, and Watch Me Fall is further proof of this change. Songs like "My Reality" barely contain a hint of Lindsey's garage past. "Wounded" even ventures into twee territory, complete with ba da ba in the background. "Hang Them All" and "Man of Steel" are the most reminiscent of the Jay Reatard that die-hard garage fans originally fell in love with.

It would be easy to attribute this significant pop shift to Lindsey signing to Matador. But maybe he just feels secure enough on the label to give his alter ego a break. We may never know where Jimmy Lindsey ends and Jay Reatard begins, but the area where they overlap is a pretty good place.

Written by Dana Raidt, Radio K volunteer.