Jay Reatard R.I.P.

Twenty nine years old is too young to die. Everyone needs to endure the weirdness that is the 30’s, and then by 40 you finally realize you'll never become a rock star.
Jay Reatard wasn’t a rock star, and it’s unlikely that he’d ever become one. But he was one step ahead of the rest of us because he had talent and he made some nifty punk rock songs that were wonderfully infectious. Of course, I’m old enough to namecheck the influences and I’m old enough to not get hung up about it.
I don’t know much about his past and I can’t identify his demons. All I know is that fucking around with his Flying V generally got you in trouble with Reatard and that’s a completely logical reason to resort to violence.
Throw on Matador Singles 08 and think good things about those around Jay who are probably more shocked of his passing than the rest of us.