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July 24, 2008
Turning Fluorescent Grey
As our declared # 6 song of 2007, it's clear that we liked Deerhunter's version of "Fluorescent Grey" just fine. But as haunted/haunting as Bradford Cox and his humid piano creeps were, you still had to wait patiently (patiently) for the rock-out. Jay Reatard's version--from his increasingly excellent Matador singles series--stomps and whinnies from its first seconds of blacktop screech. Taking the lyrics literally, his initial agitation seems more appropriate for someone who has awoken suddenly screaming an imagined lover's name. But from there, his froth and the lyrics' mood converge. Spooky and forlorn this version is not. (It certainly does not evoke patience.) Reatard does manage to imbue the fateful words "you were my God in...high school" with the sort of over the top melodrama that a line like that demands (it even gets a bit of a fakey British accent for good measure).
In the original that line sets off a triumphant wave of blistered guitar fuzz. With a slower preceeding context, the moment is all about finally relieved tension. Starting from a more frantic place Jay chooses a looser, more organic twist; token bit of basement buzz jostles with acoustic guitar and a crisply struck tambourine. Where Cox let the next line ("People never really know") cleanly surf on top of his band's radiation wave, Reatard stretches and mumbles it until it loses even vague meaning. Then it's back to the "patiently, patiently," sung in a hurry. I guess lyrics so finely attuned to the mood of their original surroundings aren't flipped by changes as simple as tempo or instrumentation. It's an enjoyably psychotic near miss, anyway.
Jay Reatard - "Fluorescent Grey"
Posted by Jeff Klingman at July 24, 2008 09:20 PM
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