Jay Reatard

Jay Reatard is one drug overdose or insane-asylum visit away from working himself into legend. The most prominent figure in Memphis's thriving, ­methamphetamine-fed garage-rock scene, Reatard cut his first single more than a decade ago and has since reincarnated in the Angry Angles, the Bad Times, a one-off project with Eric Friedl and King Louie Bankston and the Lost Sounds, which came across like a synthesized version of the 13th Floor ­Elevators. Blood Visions, his first proper solo debut (on which he plays every instrument), combines the Sex Pistols' filth and the Ramones' fury with razor-sharp riffs and power-pop hooks spinning at 78 rpm. Rampaging through 15 songs in less than 30 minutes, Visions is all killer, no filler, a modern lo-fi nugget as violent and urgent as it is enjoyable. Highly recommended with drugs — any drugs, really.