I’m going to miss Jay Reatard. He made good records and put on an even better live show. We booked him on a Monday night in August of 2007 at The Dame, and he played to, I think, 20 people (see Matt’s photos). They ripped through an insane set. Only Daniel Johnston has played a shorter set, in my experience. I mean, daaang. Evidently someone stole some of his gear that night (though I think he probably lost it). I remember that he cursed us on his old blog, which I don’t think is up anymore.

But most of all, I’ll miss him because, like yours truly, he was a hater. I was always feelin’ what he wrote online. Here are some of my favorite victories in shit talking, all taken from his Twitter. These were copied and pasted as is, so obviously [sic] all over the place:

“Back in the states .OHIO is about to get shit on tonight !”

“Damn homeboy in M83 has the weakest slap I have ever seen…inviting the crowd on stage is almost as stupid as stage diving to watered down synth-pop.”

“Brooklyn shut up ! most of your bands all suck and you are total wanna bees ! The pains of being boring at heart ….oh it must hurt being so bland”

“South America is blowing my mind in the first 5 minutes I have been here . Can’t wait to eat atleast half a cow . So glad I’m not vegan”

“To the girl in s.f who tried her best to smash my V I hope you rot in hell . To everyone else thanks for the great turn out”

“Fyi .. No pee got on the dude I was pissing on the ground .. Also that is not my solo band its the reatards .. Get your bands straight”

“On the plane to oz turns out no age are on the same plane as us . Us no age and about 500 more people . Ok dude told me to get of the ph…”

“Almost home ! BBQ BBQ ! You know a “young meatloaf” needs hissmoked pork and boy do I need to spell check my “tweets”

“Hangin in a spainish shopping mall .. Makes me feel good to know that there are rednecks everywhere”

“Band quit! Fuck them! They are boring rich kids who can’t play for ahit anyways … Say hello to your ugly and boring wifes opps I mean lifes guys suck it.”

“Just spent 90 bucks in weed CA ! Jamming van halen in the van … Chugging pepsi clear mixed with cat turds and dope ! ”

“Har Mar and I are starting a new musical/culinary project called Hamburghini. Patent pending”

“ha not only am I not from Nashville this joker thinks the photos he’s seen of Kurt vile are me ! Wrong hit maker fool”

“Can some one tell me why british people still listen to ace of base or why danish people even attempt to rap ? Really people you are wack”

That’s some greasy food for thought. Though I don’t wish to entertain why this happened, it’s interesting to see that his shared thoughts most concerned food, partying, and cracking wise on indie rock mouthbreathers. Did he do himself in, did M83 bro seek retribution (it’s never too early for conspiracy theories), or something else entirely? I dunno, and it doesn’t matter really. Gonna miss ya, big guy.

MP3 :::
Jay Reatard – Wounded

Nothing says instant cred like a leaked album and Jay Reatard’s forthcoming release, Watch Me Fall, is out there on the bit torrents.  The album was scheduled for an August 18th release on Matador but the self-proclaimed “young Meatloaf” announced the leak on his Twitter feed late last week.  As a sidenote, the dude is seriously spell-check challenged so I’m rethinking whether or not the spelling of his last name was accidental or intentional…

Of course the leak really shouldn’t be all that shocking given that Reatard was selling copies of the new release at his live shows.  But let’s face it, this ain’t exactly Chinese Democracy and I don’t see anyone going to jail anytime soon over this.  The tracks “Wounded” and “It Ain’t Gonna Save Me” are already available for free download and point to a poppy, polished effort and a departure from the amphetamine-driven garage punk of prior releases.

Jay’s been touring in advance – er, in support – of the album and Brooklyn Vegan has some photos of the band in all its sweaty glory.  They make Tenacious D look svelte.  By the way, note the Grifters stencil on some of the road equipment.  I was just dusting off my copy of Full Blown Possession and wondering what’s happened to those guys.

MP3 :::
Jay Reatard – Wounded
Jay Reatard – It Ain’t Gonna Save Me