Jay Reatard: Singles 06-07

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Jay Reatard's first solo record, Blood Visions, was a big step forward for the noisy, bloody rocker. A furious jerked-out full-frontal attack of noise and hooks, it served notice that Reatard meant business. He spent the year after the recording of the album making singles for a variety of labels like In the Red, Goner, Squoodge, P. Trash, and Stained Circles. Singles 06-07 collects them all and throws in a DVD of live performances, including his infamous night at the Cakeshop in October of 2007. The singles contain all of the energy and abandon of the album, but Reatard tempers his previously monochromatic art-attack with some well-timed sonic sophistication and songwriting variety. That's not to say he's suddenly traded in his Flying V and sweat for a pipe and slippers, but it does mean that on a few songs he trots out some acoustic guitar and dials his howling yelp down to a vulnerable whine. He covers a Go-Betweens song ("Don't Let Him Come Back"), essays a tender love song ("Searching for You"), and even jangles a little (the super-poppy "I Found a Place"). This surprising subtlety only tells a small part of the Reatard story. He still rocks like a man possessed much of the time on songs like "Night of Broken Glass," "Turning Blue," and "It's So Useless." Indeed, Reatard is still creating storming modern garage rock-new wave nuggets; he just does it with less clatter and more precision and focused power now. Looking back at his 2006 and 2007 music makes it obvious that Reatard has taken an impressive step forward, and this points to more great records down the road.