Jay Reatard Wreaks Havoc

Posted on Oct 6th 2008 1:00PM by Mike Spinella
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To say Memphis punk Jay Reatard is prolific would be an understatement. In his decade-long career, Reatard has unleashed more than sixty releases, his most recent being a series of 7" singles for Matador Records. Reatard's Black Flag meets the Soft Boys approach to making hook-laden, lo-fi rambunctious punk has positioned him near the forefront of DIY music.

"I've always done tons of singles," Reatard tells Spinner. "It's kind of been the most prominent format in my career. I've probably done 18-19 full-length records, and probably 40 or 50 singles. It just made sense when I was going to work with then out the door leading up to the first album. When I was talking to a few major labels, they said they were going to market me as the next Kurt Cobain. I was supposed to be the guy that's going to kill emo. I'm not inspired to do that."

With that expansive catalog, Reatard admits to having trouble keeping up with his own discography. "I don't collect records," he says. "I used to. I just don't have the time anymore. More recently, I've been trying to collect my own records because I don't own a lot of my own discography. I get eBay bidding orders from people over my own records. It's pretty funny."

Watch Reatard belt out three tunes on the Interface after the jump.