Watch Me Fall
Watch Me Fall makes Jay Reatard's melodic side much clearer. Guitar parts gain definition, acoustic sounds move forward and the voice sounds less constantly on edge. The restlessness has survived. It now appears more often in the difference between buoyant music and a much darker delivery. Greater clarity gives those contrasts room to register without requiring an entirely different musical identity.
It Ain't Gonna Save Me makes the combination work immediately. Its chorus is direct, guitars sound bright and the fast singing leaves little room to relax. Melody makes the song approachable without removing its tense energy. Reatard needs no thick covering of distortion to retain a sharp edge. The performance keeps the cheerful surface from becoming too comfortable.
I'm Watching You brings the organ forward and gives the singing more room. Wounded chooses softer acoustic surroundings with harmonies that broaden its melody. These tracks reveal how much pop instinct sits behind the earlier garage punk. Relatively simple means make the vocal lines stronger instead of smaller, showing that a gentler arrangement can still hold attention.
That constant supply of catchy ideas has a drawback. The album does not always develop towards a clear next stage. Many tracks would make almost the same impression in another position. The cleaner sound also loses some of the earlier spontaneity. Individual songs consequently feel more convincing at times than the larger shape connecting them.
Hang Them All restores a sharper guitar later and gives the record a useful push. There Is No Sun takes a calmer route to the original album's conclusion, using strings and a melody allowed more time. That difference helps. Watch Me Fall works particularly well as a run of strong pop songs preserving a nervous edge. The softer approach broadens Reatard without removing his personality.
