Jay Reatard’s latest full-length, Watch Me Fall, is old-fashioned punk welded to downward-spiral drug-rock, and it plays like the soundtrack to an adolescent Armageddon. Fast-paced zombie choir harmonies melt into smooth melodies and not-so-simple song structures, and a feeling of pop memorabilia finds its way into a genre that typically does everything in its power to avoid pop recognition.
But good songwriting is good songwriting, and, while staying true to his artistic progression, Reatard manages to take dark depression poetry and float it on top of building, tonal guitar riffs and bouncing, catchy vocal lines. The result is a universally listen-ready record that begs to be played over and over. With rocking addict anthems like “Rotten Mind,” pulsing, Bowie-esque party songs like “My Reality,” and the wonderfully appropriate standout single “Can’t Do It Anymore,” Watch Me Fall lays waste to punk stereotype and thwarts pop oppression.
Reatard has had an impressive and strikingly genuine climb to notoriety, and the new album gives him strong footing in an extremely windy and ever-eroding music scene. Still, the real test will come with a tour, and these tracks will definitely assist in creating one hell of a live show.
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