Hard to believe it’s been five years since we lost one of the most entertaining and talented musicians of our time. Five years ago today, Jay Reatard was found dead in his Memphis home and the world lost the face of modern garage punk. Beginning with The Reatards, Lost Sounds, Terror Visions, Destruction Unit and finally his solo career, Jay consistently created great music. There’s a reason he put out so much music, in his words:
“I operate on an animalistic level of fear that I’m constantly running out of time. And I’m afraid that I’m going to run out of ideas. So every one of them, no matter how good or bad, I have to get them down. What if there comes a time when no one wants to put out my records? What if I wake up tomorrow and my hands don’t work? My music and output is kind of like this byproduct of this great anxiety…I’ve got to do something.”
– Jay Reatard, February 23, 2009
I only had the pleasure of seeing Jay perform live once and I can still remember it like it was yesterday. The flying-v, the raw energy, the spitting, the way his hair flew everywhere and covered his face the majority of the show, and the huge purple bruise I got from being kneed in the thigh. It was tite!
RIP Jay. You’re gone but not forgotten.
