Reatards: Teenage Hate

Label: Goner

For those of us who don't live in Memphis, this is a very necessary reissue: the first album by then-teenage Jay Reatard and his band Reatards, with two subsequent cassette releases tacked on to make an economical 39 songs in 74 minutes. So what exactly are you getting a lot of here? Thousands of words were spilled (among other fluids) when Jay shockingly departed this realm, so this isn't the place to repeat those sentiments...but these are the roots and seeds of the man we heard on all those awesome records that did get out of the town where rock was born from blues. Accordingly, Jay's view of punk rock was all-inclusive: It was nihilism and killer '60s-garage riffs, swingin' beats played on broken drums, glam-rock-inspired vocals and raw-fi production that left road-burn on your ear-bones. And melody, melody, melody -- even during the roughest moments Jay's always circling around to complete a verse, cross the T on a chord, cast a line into your mouth with a hook you can't resist. He was a pop kid playing a bucket and living it all to the fullest. At least that's what it sounds like, and tunes like these don't lie. For someone hearing this stuff for the first time -- like me -- it's a revelation. Thanks Goner and rest in peace Jay Reatard -- we wanted tons more of him, but he really did leave us a lot.