Few people will be able to look back on their adolescence and see such an influential catalog of gutter-level hits, destroyed disco balls, straight-up copy cats, and legions of obsessed fans like Jay Reatard already can. Since his initial sprout of teenage turbulence as documented when he was only seventeen on his first solo 7" on Goner Records ten years ago, he'd already been convinced that he could do it all himself by playing all the instruments, and never allowing any margin for compromise. Continuing in the excellent 12" EP series from In The Red, Jay turns in some of his strongest songs yet on this four song footlong, but in an edition of 700, you'd better move quick.
Following through the several feral outlets he's been involved in over the years, from the primal hysteria of The Reatards to the more recent Final Solutions and Angry Angles, he's always been an integral part of the most exciting live shows of anyone else he's shared the stage with. Jay's deviceful song writing has also been the most dynamically visceral of his peers, and from the drastic 180 degree art/punk stance the Lost Sounds established upon their first appearance in the late 90s, to the creatively above-par and melodically intricate songs that fill his debut solo album and this even better 12" EP, it's anyone's guess what comes next. That is the true sign of an original, and despite the long string of dead punk band carcasses behind him, you'd be a real fool to think he can't still throw a curve, or unearth a new identity for his musical manifesto. As anyone who's been in multiple bands soon realizes, having more than one inventive outlet has to come with a price, and despite all the current Memphis groups he's a part of (usually three or four), it's Jay's core intuition to be steering the ship, and you can clearly see and hear that on his solo record is where he truly shines the brightest. Never content to sit still, he's always motivated to keep going in the direction of his next musical impulses, regardless of passing trends and flimsy fashion statements. He's done his homework, repeatedly broke new ground, exposed us all to music we thought we'd never like, and he's paid his dues triplefold, so it's with great anticipation that we get to hear what comes next out of this Southern marvel's endless woven stream of underground gold. Just like some of Jay's contemporaries, his new sound has him getting checked out by some majors, so it's anyone's guess how far he could go. But who am I kidding? I'm sure he'll make the right choices just like he's pretty much done all along. Pick up a copy of the 12" HERE or from the band's merch table on tour.
check out a video for "All Over Again" from this 12" EP right here...
