Friday Night Flicks: Jay Reatard, Better than Something
Rock musicians are usually bums, you know? I never wanted to be a rock musician, I never wanted to play rock music or punk music or whatever. I never really wanted to be simply that. I can’t even put my finger on what I wanted to do, but I know it’s way bigger than that, it’s way bigger than even being a musician. —Jay Reatard, Better Than Something.
Better Than Something is an examination of the life and duality of the late James Lee Lindsey Jr (a.k.a. Jay Reatard). It juxtaposes clips of Jay’s several bands with open-hearted dialogue from friends, family and Jay himself.
Dropping out of school at 15 to pursue music, Jay made his first crude recordings at home with a guitar, a 4-track recorder, and a bucket, and was shortly thereafter discovered and championed by Eric Friedl of the Oblivians.
One and a half decades later, after dominating the late 2000’s garage rock scene with his trademark brand of blisteringly-fast, heart-on-sleeve garage punk, Jay found himself at the center of a major label bidding war, with his sights set on far more ambitious heights than any of his peers.
Unfortunately, he tragically passed away before these ambitions were able to come to fruition, leaving an immeasurable void in the underground music community.
Better Than Something is this week’s Friday Night Flick, a candid depiction of the late Memphis garage legend as equal parts punk rock hellraiser and soft-spoken sweetheart.—Jackson Todd
