Show Preview: Jay Reatard @ Emo's Wednesday
Wednesday, December 9
Emos (603 Red River St)
$10, Outside, Doors @ 9pm
[info] | [tickets]
Putting on good rock shows is something this town does really well and something Austinites shouldn’t take for granted, but rather take advantage of. That being said, it’s a relative certainty that the show Wednesday at Emo’s with Jay Reatard (aka Jay Lindsey), Harlem and Shanghai River will be a packed one nearing sell out capacity, if not meeting it. Reatard has spent his musical career playing in garage and synth punk bands in Memphis and had built up quite a rep through his days in The Reatards, Lost Sounds and The Final Solutions, to name a few, that by the time he released Blood Visions, his debut solo disc, he grabbed the ears of your atypical garage rock fans as well as a label or two. His second studio album, Watch Me Fall, was released this year on Matador Records and widened his audience even more, while hopefully minimizing the loss of those puritan fans who might make a remark like, “Well, I liked his older stuff.”
Reatard’s latest songs have shown him to be more versatile than many gave him credit for, still capitalizing on catchy choruses and riffs, but this time stepping out a little further into the realm of power pop. But, not to worry, the vast majority of his new stuff is still full of the same energy that has turned his live shows into rowdy, rock and roll dance parties for years. Watch Me Fall has already started making the rounds on top album lists of 2009, and you can be sure that he’s just warming up. Since he was in his late teens, the man has showed no signs of slowing.
The addition of Harlem to the bill is like an added bonus. The band has built themselves from curiosities into major players in Austin rock and roll since their abrupt appearance on the scene a few years back. Their garage pop is infectious and makes it nearly impossible to stand idle at a show only tapping your foot, a feeling that translates on their 2008 CD Free Drugs, and something that will no doubt be present on their Matador Records debut in the summer of 2010. Shanghai River will start the night off with 2-minute punk rock tunes big on guitar fuzz, garbled choruses perfect for singing along to sounding out the vowels and a stomp of a good time.
Jay Reatard [Official]
Jay Reatard [MySpace]
Harlem [MySpace]
Shanghai River [MySpace]
