I'm still unsure of what to say about the news today that Jay Reatard had died in his sleep. Sometime between the last Lost Sounds' final album and his "Blood Visions" album, Jay really seemed to hit his stride. When it was released, "Blood Visions" became one of my favorite things ever, to the point that between me and my friends it felt like it was on a turntable or it was blasting through somebody's speakers constantly. I finally caught Jay Reatard live during South by Southwest a few years ago, packed into a sweaty, heaving mass inside Beerland. The band was rapid-fire and on-point. Fifteen minutes later, it was over. Reatard, alongside Billy and Stephen of the Barbaras, perfected this cut-you-up-and-duck-into-the-night performance style. It was captivating. In a way, it had a real old-school vibe to it, where the band leader calls out a random tune and the other musicians better have the chops to pull it out on the spot. Jay and his band did, nightly.
In March 2008, Reatard was scheduled to play in Omaha, opening for the Black Keys. I quickly scheduled an interview for the Omaha Reader and ended up talking to Jay in March 2008. Unfortunately, the story is no longer online but one quote does stick out. As we talked about the band's live show and how they would jump one song right after another with Jay barking out a title, Jay expressed that
“We just don’t dick around like a lot of bands,” he said. “I like to make it one big cathartic experience and it’s over.” He wanted to play well, hit all the marks and there were nerves getting on stage about it going right. But it was also about making it a quick, memorable hit of adrenaline, he said.
“We just don’t dick around like a lot of bands,” he said. “I like to make it one big cathartic experience and it’s over.”
It was, Jay. And over much, much too soon.
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