It’s Jay Reatard’s birthday

It’s been five years since Jay Reatard’s untimely death, and I still don’t see a worthy successor to the Punk throne. Jay feverishly cranked out releases, starting with his band the Reatards, in the late 90’s, and continuing with bands like Lost Sounds, Nervous Patterns, Angry Angles, Destruction Unit and his voluminous solo output. I was buying any and all product with his name attached to it, from his label/distributor Shattered, and that of Lost Sounds partner Alicja Trout’s, Contaminated, as quickly as they released it. Any shows that I could make, I did, meaning that I caught him on seven different occasions between Lost Sounds, Reatards and solo gigs, and, man, he’d get so worked up on stage you’d think he was gonna combust. Maybe I’m just not paying enough attention anymore, but I’ve since to stumble on anyone whose work got me so amped, and trust me, I would love to find someone worth it. Lost Sounds are my favorite band of the 2000’s, btw.
I’m gonna start with what is probably my favorite Jay cut. Definitely my solo fave. Plus the Paris, Texas clips accompanying it are great










His great Go-Betweens cover, the flip of the I Know A Place single

And i really love his Beck cover, too




and closing with a live version of I Know A Place, done double time and still awesome

Song Of The Day: Tuxedomoon – No Tears (1979)

Oh, how I wish there were more cuts like this in the Tuxedomoon catalog.

New tracks from Alicja Trout (Lost Sounds, River City Tanlines, Black Sunday, etc)

New tracks from Alicja Trout are always cause for celebration in this household. I’ve been buying her records since the second Lost Sounds single, 1 + 1 = Nothing, appeared in 2001. Shit, I was so into her stuff that I was buying Black Sunday CDRs, and River City Tanlines test pressings from her self-run label/distributor, Contaminated Records. Actually, my collection contains more Lost Sounds related product than any other rock group of this decade, which speaks volumes not only of my devotion, but of the quality of their output.

Between the aforementioned projects, and others including Mouserocket, Destruction Unit, and Nervous Patterns, Alicja maintained a frenzied release schedule, all while consistently touring with Lost Sounds (whom I had the good fortune of seeing three times). In the past few years, the releases and touring have been much fewer and further between, as, I assume, the lifestyle change of being a doting mother has taken precedence. Thankfully she’s keeping the world up to date on her most recent project, Alicja-pop, via a Soundcloud page, which features three tracks in her inimitable style, released this week.

In further news, it appears that she is doing a Lost Sounds (R.I.P. Jay) reboot, called Sweet Knives, for two shows, May 15th at The Hi-Tone in Memphis and May 16th at the Hozac Blackout Fest in Chicago. I wish that I could attend either, and would highly recommend any in those areas to do just that.