Doc Shoe's Music Blog

Jay Reatard was probably the most prolific recording artist in America for a while, but we ought to remember that he had some very talented friends who were willing and able to follow him from one project to the next, the better to enable his workaholic tendencies.  Take this band, Destruction Unit, for example: This is Jay Reatard playing with Elvis Wong and Alicja Trout.  Elvis Wong was a member of The Reatards and also played with Jay in Angry Angles and Digital Leather.  Alicja Trout—Jay’s former girlfriend, I might add, and don’t you wish you got along with your ex that well?—anyhow, she was also in Lost Sounds and Nervous Patterns.  And I’ve already written how the Oblivians basically gave Jay Reatard his start.  My point being, nobody makes it on their own.

Afterthought: Fuck, I forgot to say anything about the record itself!  Well, when Jay Reatard started Lost Sounds, he didn’t intend to stray far from Reatards-style Garage Rock—“The Dwarves with keyboards,” is how he described his original conception of Lost Sounds.  It was up to Alicja Trout to encourage Jay to explore a different creative direction, and Elvis Wong introduced him to the Synth-Punk sound of The Screamers, and the rest is history.  But with this side-project, my guess is that Jay got his wish; Destruction Unit sounds a helluva lot like The Dwarves with keyboards.