Capsule Reviews: Jay Reatard & Ramona Falls
For anyone who’s followed Jay Reatard (aka Jay Lindsey) throughout even a portion of his ten-year music history beginning with his time spent in The Reatards, the musical shift between his debut solo record, Blood Visions, and his latest, Watch Me Fall, should come as little surprise. Throughout his half-dozen or so different bands or side projects he’s asserted himself as a somewhat versatile and quite talented musician capable of pulling forth from his brain great fetes of musical strength. Blood Visions was ferocious and fun, and it was the perfect release for introducing new fans to Reatard’s way of crafting choruses you’ll want to scream along to for the entire 2 minutes. On Watch Me Fall, he takes his foot off the gas a little, maybe just enough for some, too much for others. The record blends punk rock with power pop in a way that’s going to win over a new crowd from the previous record and hopefully not lose too many tried-and-true Jay Reatard fans in the process.
All the instruments on Watch Me Fall were performed by Reatard except drums on a few tracks and cello on the final two. He also wrote and engineered all the songs. So, if this record had been a dud, it would have been all on him, but fail, or fall, he did not. “Nothing Now” is a good example of how Reatard plays both sides, the dark and the light, the gritty and the poppy, and comes out with a winning tune. Half the song, he spends his time in the shadows with dark guitar noise and creepy spoken vocals. But, that quickly builds with every step and layered vocal into a much merrier chorus. “It Ain’t Gonna Save Me” begins the record with a garage poppy clapping beat and speeds through in typical Jay Reatard fashion. Then, the opening chords of “Faking It” thrust listeners into older punk territory and right down in front of the stage while shouting over fast chord changes. But, even this one opens up into a softer chorus. It doesn’t necessarily show that he’s getting doughy as he approaches his 30s, but rather that he’s capable of producing rock and roll that’s more versatile than many expected. But, don’t for a minute think this guy doesn’t have a bath tub full of frantic, exciting tunes to come.
Jay Reatard [Official] [MySpace]
Ramona Falls is the side project of Brent Knopf, who also makes up one third of the Portland indie rock group Menomena. It’s also the name of a waterfall on the upper Sandy River on Mount Hood in Oregon where Knopf used to hike as a boy. One is built of cascading sheets of water falling on a stair-stepped cliff, while the other cascades with layered acoustic and electric sounds buzzing, humming and gliding. Ramona Falls’ debut album, Intuit, bears some resemblance to the music of Menomena in that Knopf and company (he enlisted the musical assistance of some 35 friends including members of Loch Lomond, Mirah and the Helio Sequence) experiment with overlapping sound arrangements that occasionally get a little wispy. However, Ramona Falls is more vulnerable, organic and at times dark. The first two tracks on the record, “Melectric” and “I Say Fever”, are both highly emotional tracks. The first bubbles up and boils over with chiming piano keys, plinkering acoustic strings and crystal clear vocals singing about a failing relationship, while the latter rises and falls with electric noise peaks and softly-sung, piano-backed troughs. “Going Once, Going Twice” has a somber vibe, but not a lonely one. Knopf, with a little help from his friends, paints a picture of pain full of numerous voices and sounds that are woven so deep it’ll take several listens to get the complete image.
Ramona Falls [MySpace]
