Jay Lindsey is something else. Signed to Goner Records at age 15, Lindsey adopted the persona of Jay Reatard and set about creating his low-fi, garage-punk sound. After his time with the Reatards and the Lost Sounds along with a series of side-projects, Reatard focused on his solo-career with 2006’s Blood Visions. He followed up by releasing six 7″ singles which have been compiled with four other tracks to create his second singles compilation of the year: Matador Singles ‘08.

Reatard is strangely reminiscent of old-school punk-rock. He takes bouncy beats, simplistic chord progressions and catchy, repetitive lyrics and packages them into 2-minute song bites. Much like the Ramones did, except with a more lo-fi feel. You can picture Reatard as a one-man outfit, recording on broken-down equipment in his room. It’s that do it yourself feel that gives his songs an endearing quality.

Despite all that, Reatard is definitively different from punk bands past. In “Screaming Hand,” he has you expecting a certain melodic outcome but fails that expectation by throwing in a somewhat awkward but altogether fitting mid-chorus breakdown. “An Ugly Death” starts out slow and serious with an almost tribal drum beat, but a guitar riff quietly enters with increasing intensity, segueing to a traditional punk progression with a cleaner guitar sound and an out-of-character 50s style guitar solo midway. He presents a self-paradox — you know what to expect, but he always throws in something to surprise you.

“Always Wanting More” stands out as the most musical track with an arching guitar line. But the chorus lapses into the traditional Jay-style repetitions that prominently play out in “See/Saw.” Reatard uses a decent amount of synthesizer, evident on tracks like “You Mean Nothing to Me,” with its quasi-funky intro. He operates within a sphere but stretches the limits. It’s amazing what he accomplishes with little more than a guitar, drums and his voice.

Reatard gets you back to the basics of music with this head-bobbing singles compilation. So enjoy the punchy punk-rock and look forward to his upcoming album.