Customer Reviews

Watch Me Fall

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Blood Visions, while not being my normal taste in music, showed me there was hope for pop music. Someone had finally "hit the nail on the head" as I put it in its review a few years back. Blood Visions,being such a perfect piece of music, made me nervous about picking up anything of Jay's after. There was no way to top BV in my mind.....I was wrong.

Watch me fall, along with the Matador collection '08, show Jay moving to even a more focused vision of his version garage punk. Talk about being a catchy! There isn't a single dud on this album. Comparable to Nevermind! The songs are very personal, sometimes soft and slow, but again as with BV still able to be undeniably edgy and punk. Focused and polished (in technique), not overproduced this album is a new classic.

Wish I would have followed Jay more closely. I am truly regretful that it took his death for me to start paying attention again and pick up this MONUMENTAL album. Even more so regretful that I missed that show because it was on a week night.

This album is very good and very catchy... It's easily one of my favorite albums of '09. It has some kind of punk vibe to it, which I love! You'll catch yourself singing these songs all day. A truly overlooked pop genius!

-RIP Jay Reatard

There's a playfulness about this album that will have you humming these little "punk" ditties all day long.

Slick, concise and never too serious, "Watch Me Fall" is on my Best of 2009 list and for good reason.

There's nothing here that hasn't been done before, but it's refreshing all the same.

Especially after being tormented by Miley Cyrus and the Black Eyed Peas all year long.

Me, I'm not the greatest singer. Jay Reatard, he's not the worst singer. When listening to the songs on Reatard's second Matador Records release, Watch Me Fall, I've found myself singing along with a newfound swagger. Not only am I singing along, but I'm certain that my singing is better than the perfectly adequate vocals on the record that's backing me. The issue here is not so much that Reatard's vocal style is ineffective as it is that this particular bullish songwriter/rocker has some really well crafted songs that, well, flat-out beg for a better vocal treatment. Reatard's vocals are whiny, framed by a fake British accent and youthful in a way that almost begs for a spot on the Warped Tour stage. Yeah, they sound fine and do the trick, but they also grate a tad too much after a few dozen spins.

Aside from Jay Lindsey's notoriously nauseating stage name (I'd prefer anything, even Jay Arrhea, to this Reatard business), that's my only complaint when it comes to Watch Me Fall, a record bound to be one of the year's most celebrated mid-level indie releases.

The more I think about it (and, yeah, I know we're only a paragraph into this review), maybe it's a good thing that Jay Arrhea's vocals grate on the ears so much. If he could sing with the effectiveness of a fellow fake Brit such as, say, Bob Pollard, I'd probably never be able to get Watch Me Fall's punk-poppy version of power-pop off the turntable machine. Not since last year's Baseball Project album have I basked in the guiltless glow of pseudo-adult power-pop bliss in the way Watch Me Fall has me doing today. But there's nothing overly anomalous going on here - keyboards, guitars, a closet full of memorable hooks around every corner, a little bit of nefarious indie moodiness. Thirty-two blow-out minutes of seasoned, party-ready, road-trip friendly, get-me-on-the-stage pop music that works as the artist's most clear-cut artistic statement yet.

Initially known for a dozen or so slapdash punk albums he released while fronting bands with names like The Reatards, The Bad Times, The Lost Sounds and so on, Reatard has spent the three years since his proper solo debut, Blood Visions, releasing 45s like they're going out of style. Watch Me Fall builds on the success of last year's Matador-issued singles collection, the aptly titled Matador Singles `08 - Reatard's best work until the release of Watch Me Fall. The new record, while mostly similar in makeup to Matador `08, sees the Memphis melody maker focusing his garage rock vision, begging early naysayers to reconsider. His focus here seems to be the kind that begs one to believe that Reatard might end up being more than the tossed-off singles-maker and stage-puncher he's been known as since entering the indie world's dim spotlight.

As much as the vocals perturb and the production could stand to be a less prevalent element in the record's design, Reatard has crafted a garage-pop collection that'll jumpstart any PBR-fueled party. No matter how asinine the name attached to the work is, Watch Me Fall is the kind of record that could jumpstart any artist's career. Put on repeat. Turn up. Sing along and feel alright.

Not a bad effort from a talented musician with only the bare production basics. Tinge of grunge mixed with punk spice create a concoction worth tasting. While you may not stay for the entire meal you'll certainly enjoy the appetizers and leave with a curiosity for what the entree has to offer.