'See-saw, Marjorie-Daw'

So, shit, Jay Reatard, huh? I was uninterested in the guy until I read a complimentary blog entry about his new single series for Matador, needless to say the blogger was someone who's taste I liked. And needless to say that Jay Reatard is now what I would call one of my favourite artists/musicians, I love saying that because it's the sort of shit that keeps me going, new material that I really love, as opposed to discovering old bands I really love. It's happened two more times this year, with Frightened Rabbit and Grouper knocking me sideways with some beautiful stuff.

So, shit, Jay Reatard, huh? The 'See/Saw' b/w 'Screaming Hand' single has really cemented itself as king of Reatard land in my opinion. 'See/Saw' has that relentless pace, that fiery scribbling of acoustic strum and searing electric, a gormless blues punk rhythm/melody, and that fish hook 'She creeps me out/She grabs me in again', which rides an anthemic last 1/3rd of the song wave, that can be found in both 'Screaming Hand' and the newest single 'Always Wanting More', but is no less efficacious from over-use.

And what about 'Screaming Hand' ? I've played it countless times, but it didn't truly hit me until today how next-level, holy, transcendent, beautifully broken it is. Seemingly about an abusive father, from the son's perspective, after you've rocked out a fair bit to the skin-scraping guitar strums, gotten over the head shattering verse melody a little, and you hear the lyrics about a kid just needing a little attention, and instead getting 'An empty beer bottle/And a screaming hand', well, I mean fuck. It's like an axe to the back of your head, the way the song is so relentlessly catchy, so fucking ineffably cool sounding, and yet the things being sung are pretty messed up. The kid gets older, and he actually finds sympathy for the parent/guardian, 'But that young boy/ He's older now/Thought life was simple/But he's finding out/Just how hard things were/For this old man', so there's things like the son not being able to escape the father's legacy, seeing in himself the ability to resort to drinking, and violence towards vulnerable loved ones, sympathizing with the abuser. But it's complicated, the refrain of 'You are my hero' is repeated, and then 'And you're dying now' appear and gives a new slant on everything, the kid idolizes the old guy, and undoubtedly has mixed feelings due to the health of his dad/guardian. It would be simple for the song to be a big 'fuck you' to the owner of the 'screaming hand', but, as Jay states, life isn't simple, instead we have a kid maybe not really being able to sort through the abuse he went through, and only finding in himself forgiveness for his 'hero'. I've heard murmurings about some of Reatard's lyrics being autobiographical, like stuff on his solo debut Blood Visions (which I haven't yet listened to, but soon will), but God, I fucking hope this isn't the case here, it's just too heartbreaking.

Of course, it's also just a rocking good song, especially that synth/keyboard high toned stabbing stuff on the last verse, my goodness!