Jay Reatard: Watch Me Fall

Jay Reatard has balls.  The title of his second album is a challenge, a dare, a bet.  The phrase “Watch me fall” implies that he might alienate some of his fanbase with his second full length.  He is now signed to Matador, one of the biggest indie labels on the planet.  His music will be available to fans outside of the ghetto of small record stores, dirty rock clubs and Pitchfork Media.   Jay Reatard has become in a word, accessible.

A thousand critics scream in horror at the mention of that word.  Soon Reatard will outgrow the nurturing atmosphere of the club scene and be on the marquee of Madison Square Garden.  His matted mop of long hair will be peering out from the podium at the Video Music Awards.  His name will be uttered in the same breath as the other mainstream rock stars.  It will be Daughtry, Kroeger, Tyler, and Reatard.

That statement is obviously hyperbolic, but Watch Me Fall is a turning point in the career of Jay Lindsey’s alter-ego. Compare “Night of Broken Glass,” the opening track from Singles 06-07, to “It Ain’t Gonna Save Me.”  The former begins with the intense shattering of glass, the latter with the chorus.  It’s a subtle change, but significant.  “Night of the Broken Glass” starts on an aggressive, bracing note, and “Ain’t Gonna Save Me” pushes the uncomfortable element to the side.   It’s similar to the approach The Thermals took with Now We Can See.  Reatard isn’t completely giving himself up to mainstream acceptance, but the minor adjustments will make him more palatable to a wider group of people.

Watch Me Fall is a very economical record.  In an age when most mainstream rockers fall into a trap of indulgent intros or overlong solos, Reatard never wastes a note.  The album moves at a rapid pace, with each song passing before you have a moment to process them.  The average mainstream rock song is four and a half minutes, and the longest song on Watch Me Fall, “A Whisper (There Is No Sun)” is just over three and a half.  Garage rock is supposedly a restrictive milieu, but Reatard gets a lot done.

The most striking thing about Watch Me Fall is how poppy it is.  Reatard’s music has always had elements of pop, but you had to look for them under the abrasive lo-fi atmosphere.  Not anymore.  Guitars jangle, drums clap and bass pounds.  “I’m Watching You,” with its alluring mix of Moog and traditional organ, could be a lost Tommy James and the Shondells single for all we know.  Reatard’s voice is perfectly suited for such poppy arrangements, giving them an edge.  His voice is still uncompromising, an odd half sung/half spoken warble.  His incantation doesn’t really change, but manages to fit on both poppy numbers (“Wounded,” “Rotten Mind”), as well as the hard-driving ones (“Can’t Do It Anymore,” “Man of Steel”).

Watch Me Fall is an accessible pop record.  However, Reatard hasn’t abandoned his indie-rock cred by making it.  Watch Me Fall is the perfect gateway for someone who finds his singles too abrasive, or Blood Visions too lo-fi.  Jay Reatard is about to move up to the next level, and that is a good thing.