July 25, 2008

Jay Reatard

Singles 06-07

8 / 10 Kept on a leash and forced to wear protective headgear as a child – presumably for the safety of other kids – it’s no bombshell to discover that, as a youngster, Jay Lindsey was more than just ‘lively’. This, after all, is the Rottweiler whose enthusiasm has led him to write “over 900 songs” (one a day, apparently), who once delivered a stagediver in Canada back into the crowd with a re-styled nose and, at London’s Stag And Dagger festival earlier this year, hurtled through 10 songs in 600 seconds. Reatard is ADD in action – desperate to fight, spite and write as quick as possible.

‘Singles 06-07’, 17 snivelling cuts from that period (four from debut ‘Blood Visions’), is a collection which begins with the sound of someone falling through a conservatory roof (‘Night Of Broken Glass’). It’s an introduction to the splattering scene and to the sound of Jay rifling his Flying V through the gullet of the Buzzcocks, The Hives and White Denim at a US psychobilly prom.

This is bloody stuff – murder and, erm, arse-rape are dealt with – with the sleigh bells’n’ sodomy of ‘Hammer I Miss You’ (“And the boys in the alleyway are bending at the knees/Trying to find a lonely thing/Trying to find something to please”) a backward highlight. Yes, it’s dirty work (see the lo-fi DVD included) but under the shards and stains there is melody in every track. Reatard’s motto is fulfilled: no quality control, just quality. A leash, Mr and Mrs Reatard? Darn, a claw-hammer couldn’t pin Jay down.

Greg Cochrane

Rate this album

Average rating

Be the first to rate this album

NEW! For the latest music videos and backstage interviews, check out our brand new sister site, NME Video.