As an album cover, this sits somewhere between Andrew W.K.'s
I Get Wet and the Dwarves'
Blood Guts & Pussy; as quality punk music it sits right next to the Ramones' first record. In my book that's no small praise;
Ramones is one of the greatest rock albums ever made, and the fact that this one, at times, makes me think of that one is recommendation enough. So, what is it? Fifteen songs in twenty-eight minutes, all superfast and all supercatchy. Every song has something to recommend it, whether or not it's a guitar riff, a beautiful sung chorus or an aggressive screamed chorus. The thing is so consistent it's hard to pick any high points, but the magnificent guitar riff of "Turning Blue" and the gorgeous
Nuggets-influenced "Oh It's Such A Shame" come the closest. This record is so good that I'm tempted to think that Pitchfork underrated it by placing it at #200; personally I think it's one of the top twenty records of the decade. Certainly it's in the top fifty, and its staggering quality shows more than anything else he put out why Reatard's death in early 2010 was a tragedy. Barely registering when it came out, in the intervening four years it's become a cult classic of punk music. It's violent, it's scary, it's catchy. Buy it.
MY RATING:
9.3
Jay Reatard - "Oh It's Such A Shame"
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