One Track Mind

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Jay Reatard is an artist whose backstory is as engaging as the music it has given rise to. Under his solo alias, as well as under The Lost Sounds and The Reatards, Jay has produced an avalanche of recorded material over the past eleven years. Initially smitten by the work of lo-fi giants like Guided by Voices and their hissy, four-track adventures, his music has married the tossed-off charm of the movement with the sweating freneticism of the early ’80s punk scene. Now, as he prepares the August 18th release of Watch Me Fall on Matador records, listeners continue to hear Reatard’s work expand in new directions without losing any of the immediacy that has made him so thrilling over the past decade.

There are two elements of “Wounded” that immediately signal a marked departure from Reatard’s previous material. One is the prominent, pulsating vocal self-harmonization that kicks things off. Of course, these aren’t some prissy oohs and aahs–they launch the song with the same sort of an energy as a drummer counting things down with clicking drumsticks. Another noticeable shift is the prominence of acoustic guitar, here used to lay down “Wounded”‘s initial melody. Lyrically, Reatard spins the tale of having just been (nearly?) shot by a lover; whether it is a metaphor or not is up for debate, but it works either way. The song cycles through phases before the climactic passage, which pulls together the disparate elements which were introduced throughout the track and ties them together in a taut little bow. “Wounded” is about as concise and crisp as songwriting comes–it isn’t just punchy, it’s a series of jabs and hooks followed by a thundering uppercut to the jaw.

Arguably the best (or worst, if you’re a selfish music glutton) aspect of “Wounded” is that it is far more accessible than his earlier work. Those who found his earlier singles and LPs too sharp and rusty around the edges–or too manic and wailing, for that matter–to really enjoy may be surprised by how buffed and presentable this song is. While still maintaining the anything-goes spirit of his preceding efforts, “Wounded” signals an even greater clarity in the writing and recording processes for Jay Reatard.