July 2009

Jay Reatard has been recording music for over a decade now. And while that sounds strange to us, it’s probably as bizarre to Mr. Reatard himself. But over that ten plus years of output, he’s been able to insert himself into the way in which I perceive my life. It’s odd to think that some of his music has stuck in my head for so long as to have defined situations that I’ve gotten through. From driving through some burnt out part of Cleveland in a friends pick up truck to walking down the street in Seattle, despondent due to too many things that couldn’t be summed up in a sentence or so, Reatards’ music has a viable average-guy quality to it all. Of course, the fact that most of it’s about losing his shit probably has at least something to do with all of this.

I genuinely don’t know anything about Belgium. I guess I enjoy some of the country’s beer and the Kids are easily one of the best punk bands outta Europe. But beyond that, there’s not a whole lot of info floating around in my head about the country. Presumably due to its relative proximity to England some of the punkers on the continent copped a pretty respectable sound. Of course, that’s again a reference to the Kids specifically. But if every band that came outta Belgium had some sort of relation to that group it’d be pretty impressive. That’s probably too much to ask, but the Razors possessed a sloppy punk acumen that might have been more abrasive and less melodic than the bouncy Kids. The fact remains, though, that what the Razors did release was pretty much golden.

In the catalog of lost punkers, the Homosexuals rank up there with the greatest reverence paid to a group that never really didn’t too much to get beyond the realm of England. Of course, a huge number of short lived bands could say something similar. But considering the Homos existed for roughly five years during a period of time when punk seemed almost like a commercially viable music, it’s only the band’s disregard for success that the group remains little more than a name to the majority of punk enthusiasts. But England was a heady place and that was a rough time – from all reports at least. The eventual dissolution of the group, though, only served to bury the Homos underneath a pile of spiky haired nonsense that would end up wrecking the genre for a good long time.

A good example of live rockness. Digest.