/|\(;,;)/|\ There's an ocean of music, and I'm swimming as hard as I can. I use this blog to post music & commentary; I hope you find something here that does it for you. Peace!
Doc Shoe posting on bonus-tunes:
Here’s the Lost Sounds demo for their song “Blackcoats Whitefear” (album version HERE) featuring the talents of Alicja Trout and the late great Jay Reatard. The completed studio version of this song is like a amphetamine freak tearing down your front door with an axe, but the demo is more deliberate, with more obvious shades of early Synth Punk pioneers like Devo and The Screamers. Damn, I miss this band.
Just because I can’t be the only one on a Jay Reatard kick lately, here’s a link to all my Jay Reatard posts.
“Little Man in My Mind” by Final Solutions
I’m probably in the minority on this one, but here goes: Out of the late great Jay Reatard’s entire back catalog, out of all those awesome records he did both as a solo artist and with bands like Lost Sounds, The Reatards, Bad Times and Angry Angles, this song—this amazing, brilliant, epic fucking song—might just be my favorite thing he ever did.
“Plastic Skin” by Lost Sounds
Jay Reatard and Alicja Trout combine Screamers-style Synth-Punk with apocalyptic Garage Rock.
“Memphis Blues” by Reatards
The story goes that young Jimmy Lee Lindsey’s mom took him to an Oblivians concert, and from that day forward the kid was hooked on that loud, abrasive, make-your-ears-bleed, make-your-neighbors-call-the-cops kinda Garage Rock. He called himself Jay Reatard, dropped out of school and spent his time playing guitar and making tapes in his mom’s garage until he finally met Eric Oblivian, who helped make that first Reatards record—the Get Real Stupid 7”—and released it on his label, Goner Records. That 7” featured Jay as a one-man-band, singing and playing guitar and even banging on a bucket for percussion. Eventually he enlisted a couple friends and formed The Reatards, a band dedicated to damaging eardrums in Memphis and beyond.
“Disco Eraser” by Final Solutions
Young Jimmy Lee—better known as Jay Reatard—wanted to leave home and crash with some friends for a while, so he stayed with a band called The Jackmonkeys, who used him as their drummer for a battle-of-the-bands competition. They won, of course, and a few years later they reformed as Final Solutions and started touring and recording together.
“Hammer I Miss You” (live bootleg) by Jay Reatard
Dammit we need to clone this magnificent bastard.
“Energy Drink & the Long Walk Home” by Lost Sounds
Jay Reatard was a motherfucking genius, but Lost Sounds was as much Alicja Trout’s band as it was his. “We both have this apocalyptic mentality,” is how she once explained their chemistry. Just listen to her sing this track and I think you’ll get what an “apocalyptic mentality” sounds like. (Hint: It sounds awesome.)
“Punish Or Be Damned” by Lost Sounds
If you need any further reason to check out Jay Reatard’s band Lost Sounds, dig this: Even their outtakes make for better listening than most other bands on their best day. Here’s Jay, Alicja Trout, and the rest of the crew covering their under-appreciated Synth-Punk forebears: The Screamers’ “Punish Or Be Damned.”
“Cancer” by Destruction Unit (Jay Reatard)
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.
“Break Down” by the Reatards
The story goes that young Jimmy Lee Lindsey’s mom took him to an Oblivians concert, and from that day forward the kid was hooked on that loud, abrasive, make-your-ears-bleed, make-your-neighbors-call-the-cops kinda Garage Rock. He called himself Jay Reatard, dropped out of school and spent his time playing guitar and making tapes in his mom’s garage until he finally met Eric Oblivian, who helped make that first Reatards record—the Get Real Stupid 7”—and released it on his label, Goner Records. That 7” featured Jay as a one-man-band, singing and playing guitar and even banging on a bucket for percussion. Eventually he enlisted a couple friends and formed The Reatards, a band dedicated to damaging eardrums in Memphis and beyond. This track is from their last album, Not Fucked Enough. Before you play it, call the manufacturer to make sure your speakers can handle this music.
“Heart Felt Toys” by Lost Sounds
With the possible exception of Final Solutions, I’d have to say my favorite Jay Reatard band has got to be Lost Sounds (though to call it a “Jay Reatard band” is unfair to the contributions of Alicja Trout, who’s an amazing artist in her own right). After a few impressive-but-unfocused records in which they tried to be a Garage Rock band with synthesizers, here’s the record where they finally figured out what they were up to: Black-Wave. Yes, there is such a thing as Synth-Punk, and with this record Lost Sounds could teach even The Screamers a thing or two.
“Pull Down The Shades” by Jay Reatard
One of the last songs Jimmy Lee Lindsey ever recorded, for a benefit album for Chris Knox. Thanks to slang-king for calling my attention to this song.
“Tammy” by Final Solutions
Of all Jay Reatard’s various projects, Final Solutions might be my favorite, or at least a close second to Lost Sounds. It seems young Jimmy Lee wanted to leave home and crash with some friends for a while, so he stayed with a band called The Jackmonkeys, who used him as their drummer for a battle-of-the-bands competition. They won, of course, and a few years later they reformed as Final Solutions and started touring and recording together.
I found this record, Songs By Solutions, almost by accident at Recycled Records on Haight Street, and I’ve been playing it over and over again ever since. The song “Little Man In My Mind” might just be my favorite song in the entire Jay Reatard catalog, and I posted it a few months ago (click here), but here’s another song, “Tammy,” for those of you who need further convincing that this album is Mandatory Punk.
“Before We’re Dead and Gone” by Bad Times
Bad Times was another Jay Reatard one-off project featuring Eric Oblivian (of Oblivians, duh) and King Louie Bankston. They had one practice session, recorded one album, then did one live show before disbanding. I think it’s cool when artists take creative detours like that, especially since too many bands are more interested in becoming an institution. Anyhow, I hope you like this track; it’s more of the abrasive Garage Rock kinda music Jay Reatard was always breaking away from or returning to, over and over again.
