Before I begin this review, just look at this. OK, now that that's out of the way...
Jay Reatard is a one-man punk-turned-pop band from Memphis, Tennessee. After only a short three years in existence of his solo works, Jay has quickly grown a reputation. This could be because of his previous band, the Reatards, but I'm not entirely sure. Even though he is very prolific with his music, be aware this is only his sophomore album; any other "albums" except Blood Visions are either compilations of singles or EPs.
Watch Me Fall is a huge step from Blood Visions, whether or not it's pleasing to fans of earlier material. But fans of the earlier material saw it coming because the changes in his sound became evident through the singles collections, in particular the Matador Singles '08 collection. The songs featured on Blood Visions had an amateurish punk sound to them, but it sounded purposely amateurish. This was because it consisted of demos that were intended to be on an upcoming Reatards album but two weeks after finishing the recordings, the Reatards had decided to call it a day.
Watch Me Fall's sound is a mix between old punk bands, maybe the Ramones, fused with the sort of gimmicky 60's pop sound. I can see people disagreeing with that statement though, because comparing Jay Reatard to those bands is considered such a broad statement. Anyway, let's get a little more descriptive here; the album definitely has some type of concept or style going on throughout its thirty minutes of joyful mayhem. Every song is very in your face, sort of begging to be sung along to. As annoying as the sound may have been described, it gets what it wants. Every song sounds very joyous and fun-loving, but if you decide to pay attention to the lyrics, they're a little disturbing; not throughout but they're prominent. A lot of the lyrics also don't really make sense. They just seem like Jay was writing a song and needed to put a rhyme in it. Example, the opening track "It Ain't Gonna Save Me": "(...)and then a cloud came in the sky/it shit on me; I don't know why." It's hooky, but if you're caught in public singing along to it, people will never look at you the same way again.
The only downside is its goofiness, which sometimes interferes with the melody of the song itself. Like the main part of "Man of Steel": it just reminds me of an English version of the soundtrack to a bullfight broadcasted on TV. It builds quickly, and then what? Nothing. Another thing here that I have to pick out is just a pet peeve of mine, the acoustic guitar. It gets in the way of the punk aesthetic in the songs. And believe me, you can't listen to Watch Me Fall without hearing an acoustic guitar somewhere in the midst. The thing I find annoying about it is how it's so buried in the mix. You can't really hear the acoustic guitar, just the picking. And to put the sound of picking over a fuzzy guitar just seems pointless to me.
So, if you're into Jay Reatard and you're not afraid to hear the more sensitive side of him, this is worth buying. If the album becomes a disappointment for you, I can see why. It's a hit and miss album; you either love it or hate it because it just sticks to one style and goes on and on. But that seems to be a noticeable characteristic in Jay Reatard's music.
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