Well, this is just confounding: news came over the wire yesterday that lo-fi rock craftsman Jay Reatard died "in his sleep" at his home, and was found at 3:30 AM by a friend. No further details have arisen yet, but at only 29, but it's more than a bit vexing, to say the least. Here's the official statement from Jay's website:
Jimmy Lee Lindsey, Jr. died in his sleep on Wednesday morning. He was 29 years old. He is survived by his mother Devonna May, his father Jimmy Lindsey, and his sisters Leslie Lindsey, Stephanie Duncan and Gara May. He’ll be missed by music fans all over the world. With 22 full-length albums and over 100 releases, Jay dedicated his life to music. He played nearly one thousand shows in over 20 countries around the world. He was incredibly grateful for all the support his fans gave him over the years. Funeral arrangements are being made, and a memorial service is being planned in Memphis. Please watch this space for the announcement..
Wherever you may be, Mr. Lindsey, we hope you're doing well. Thanks for all the music.
Jay Reatard at The Independent, from the HAD Archive
As previously mentioned, Jay Reatard has a new record on tap for next Tuesday entitled Watch Me Fall. Well, apparently Jay and his associates at Matador are taking the release quite seriously, because there's been a deluge of media announcements in the last week. Not only is the record streaming in full, but Jay has scheduled a tour, record store appearances, appeared in an emusic interview, and released multiple videos. It's a doozy.
First, the record: it's streaming on AOL's new releases page (link below), and we've just started to give it a listen. We have to say, it strikes us as pretty typical Jay Reatard; if you were a fan before, you'll probably dig. If not, well, we're not sure you're gonna be having some huge new revelation. That being said, we're digging on the album, and we're quite excited to get our hands on a new set of Reatard's straight-ahead jams.
Second, touring: Reatard has scheduled a tour for his imprint, Shattered Records, as well as a number of free record store dates. The Shattered tour, which takes place in October, will apparently feature 5 bands each night, which is to say, be incredibly insane. Given that Jay's sets tend to be around thirty minutes, this doesn't necessarily mean it'll be a late night. The record store tour starts next Tuesday on the day of the album's release, and will be confined to the West Coast. The stops are the requisite Amoeba Records appearances, surrounded by visits to other fine indie record shops.
Finally, video and interviews: In addition to this awesome eMusic interview, Reatard has recorded a video for "It Ain't Gonna Save Me" (above), as well as a twenty minute documentary (below).
Yes, it's a lot of material, and it's a ton to digest. That being said, with this level of goodness, we're pretty psyched to see Jay doing so well. See you out there!
Jay Reatard Fall 2009 Dates **Record Store Tour** Tue Aug 18 Los Angeles Amoeba Records 6pm Wed Aug 19 Long Beach Fingerprints Music 7pm Thu Aug 20 San Diego M-Theory Music 7pm Fri Aug 21 Santa Cruz Streetlight Records 7pm Sat Aug 22 San Francisco Amoeba Records 6pm Sun Aug 23 Berkeley Amoeba Records 6pm Tue Aug 25 Portland Jackpot Records 6pm Wed Aug 26 Seattle Easy Street Records 7pm Thu Aug 27 Seattle Sonic Boom Records 7pm Fri Aug 28 Vancouver Zulu Records 8pm **Shattered Records Tour** Mon Sep 28 – Chicago – Empty Bottle Tue Sep 29 – Toronto – The Reverb Wed Sep 30 – Montreal – La Sala Rossa Thu Oct 1 – New York City – Le Poisson Rouge Fri Oct 2 – Boston – Harpers Ferry Sat Oct 3 – Baltimore – Ottobar Thu Oct 15 – Seattle – Crocodile Cafe Mon Oct 19 – San Francisco – Great American Music Hall Tue Oct 20 – San Diego – The Casbah Wed Oct 21 – Los Angeles – El Rey Theater
We mentioned a while back that Jay Reatard had a new record on the way, and would be touring in its support this summer. Well now the record has come to fruition, and the first single delivered to the masses. Watch Me Fall won't hit the racks until August 18th, but "It Ain't Gonna Save Me" is the first taste of what to expect.
The track is pretty classic Jay Reatard, with multitracked vocals, frenetic drums, and lots of layered rhythm guitars. That being said, it manages to offer up a view of his constantly evolving songwriting. While his tunes are managing to maintain a similar veneer to material from earlier in his career, the rhythmic and melodic underpinnings are gradually becoming more complex.
It seems like every release from Jay Reatard builds on those underpinnings, and comes closer and closer to the perfect pop song. We haven't heard the record yet, but if this track is any indication, then we can't wait to get our hands on it!
In support of his upcoming record, Jay Reatard has laid out a spring tour. This includes a stop at the Independent on June 13th, with Thee Oh Sees supporting. Reatard's hard at work on the new record, and according to his myspace page "new album almost done!!!". Tickets go on sale this Sunday at 10 AM.
In other news, Jay has apparently resurrected his label, Shattered Records, and is preparing a singles club for 2009. The collection includes "three albums, two 7″s, a t-shirt, six digital singles, and much much more", all of it exclusive to the club. You can check out all the info here.
Finally, Reatard has also released a new song entitled "You're Gonna Lose" via his website. You can get access to the tune by joining his mailing list on his newly launched domain. The tune is an awesome almost-surf-rock piece, with classic Reatard vocals and melody. Definitely enough to get us psyched up for the new record. Jay Reatard Spring/Summer 2009 Dates Sat Apr 11 - Atlanta @ Lennys Sat Apr 18 - Memphis @ Goner Records Thu June 11 - San Diego @ Casbah Fri June 12 - Los Angeles @ Echo Sat June 13 - San Francisco @ Independent Mon June 15 - Seattle @ Crocodile Cafe Tue June 16 - Vancouver @ Biltmore Wed June 17 - Portland @ Dante's Fri June 26 - Chicago @ Bottom Lounge Sat June 27 - Detroit @ Magic Stick Sun June 28 - Cleveland @ Grog Shop Mon June 29 - Toronto @ Mod Club Tue June 30 - Montreal @ La Sala Rossa Wed July 1 - New York City @ Stuyvesant Oval Thu Mar 19 - Munich @ 59 to 1 Thu July 2 - Brooklyn @ Music Hall of Williamsburg Fri July 3 - Allston, MA @ Harper's Ferry Sun July 5 - Washington DC @ Black Cat Wed July 8 - Knoxville @ Pilot Light Thu July 9 - Nashville @ The End Fri July 10 - Memphis @ Hi-Tone Café
This past Sunday night, HAD headed over to the Independent and caught an incendiary set by the notorius Jay Reatard. In many ways the show was exactly what one would expect who was familiar with Reatard's music: quick songs, blazing guitars, heavy distortion, and a mosh-y crowd. But at the root of it, the set had the same charm that underlies the man's records, and what makes him far much more than just a punk.
Let us start by saying that rumors of Reatard's "misbehavior", as far as we can tell, have been wildly exaggerated. Sure, he spat on the stage a bit, and sure he tossed a girl into the crowd after she started attempting to mangle his guitar. Still, at the end of the day, the show was all business: rapid delivery of solid rock tunes, without a whole lot of drama or conflict.
The delivery of tunage that took place was, we must say, completely awesome. Granted, Jay's tunes are pretty simple, and probably offer themselves up pretty easily for live consumption. That being said, the performance was streamlined, and a complete validation that the records that Reatard creates at home on his own translate extremely well to a live environment.
The band is a tightly-knit three piece unit, but they definitely had their rock sensibility and chops thoroughly in place. In particular, the bassist (name, anyone?) seemed to have been thoroughly schooled in the practice of rock acrobatics. At the end of the day, this trio delivered on the promise of Jay Reatard's records: fuzzy, blazing hot, and extremely fun rock and roll. We'll be back again, for sure.
Via the man's blog, here's Jay Reatard with a demo version of a new tune called "Whisper To Me". It's all screechy guitars over a dreamy forward moving chord progression. To say we like it would be an understatement: it's very, very, good.
We mentioned a while back that Matador's fuzz-rocker in residence, Jay Reatard, will be at the Independent on January 25th. The show's been a long time coming, and frankly, we're champing (Yes, champing. Look it up.) at the bit to check out the band in a live setting.
In the meantime, we've been enjoying Reatard's release Matador Singles 2008, and in particular held a certain fascination with his cover of Deerhunter's "Flourescent Grey". The track, from the EP of the same title, is one of Deerhunter's more accessible tracks, so it fits in well with Reatard's fuzzy take on easy to dig pop songs. The rest of the disc is a treat as well: if you don't have it, we highly recommend picking it up.
What's more, while you're enjoying the record you can also hopefully get a bit of insight to just who exactly Jay Reatard is. The Onion AV Club has a great, relatively lengthy interview with the man himself. Check it out now....
Tickets for Jay Reatard at the Independent are on sale now.
Despite (or maybe due to) reports of an unbearably noisy, spit-laden, aggressive live show, we have to say we're psyched to hear that Jay Reatard will be coming to the Independent on January 25th. We've been digging his Singles 06-07 comp for a while now, and his recently released Matador Singles '08 is another solid dose of Reatard's trademark brand of 60's throwback fuzzed-out garage punk. Don't say we didn't warn you that it might get a bit hectic, but we think you'll go home happy.
