Since January, we were toying with an idea. Andrew and I listen to Public Strain frequently, to a point where we were coming around to having something else to say about that record. The idea we had was that everyone on the site would write something about the album. Andrew would’ve covered his attatchment to the record. I would’ve written about the lyric decoding process (you can see the results of that here). Matt hasn’t heard the record since we called it the 2010 Album of the Year. Metal Dan hadn’t heard it at all.
The deadline we set for all of this was last week. No one wrote anything (me included), and it seemed like that’s the end for that idea. At the same time, I’ve still felt urgency behind writing something about Women, as it’s been over a year since their meltdown. The sadness from reading that turned to jealousy at a certain point- what an amazing thing to just throw away. At the same time, I’ve got no right to say something like that, since I wasn’t someone that actually dealt with the people in the band. All I have is my perspective.
That perspective was informed by the awe-inspiring work Women had done. When I first heard their self-titled record, I disliked it. Not because of the music, but because I felt like I was missing something. I waited a year, and expanded my musical knowledge further and further before going back to it in the summer of 2009, and was promptly floored. In terms of songcraft and soundcraft, it was worlds beyond anything I’d heard.
After spending a year listening to that record basically daily, news of a second album broke. The months until it surfaced were unbearable; I was constantly looking for any sign of it or any songs at all. Eyesore came out officially, and blew me away for being so structurally unlike anything from the self-titled record. Locust Valley slid out unofficially, as far as I can tell, and was comparatively ornate and precious. And then, gold. I found it on a music sharing service, over a month before it was to be released.
Now that I’m here, I’m really not sure what else I have left to say about Public Strain. We devoted a podcast to it, gave it our awards for Best Rock Album and overall Best Album of the Year. There’s no way we can praise it more than that.
After the release, I was lucky enough to see them live. For as beautifully constructed as that music was, it held no candle to their delivery in a live environment. Everything had more energy and nerve, and instead of being showmen, all they had to do to have a good show is demonstrate “yes, we made that music, and we can do it at any point.” The case in point being Shaking Hand. On record, it’s an agile and oddly jointed song. Live, it’s a consuming wave. The ingenious songwriting took a seat behind the superhuman musicianship. Witnessing the outro live is something I’ll never forget.
That earth shattering moment was nicely balanced with the news of their meltdown about two weeks later. Now that memory has a twinge of luck; that I was able to see them before what I knew as Women stopped. I thought it was a tragic ending.
But you know why I’m writing this by now.
I’ve got no booze around to have a personal wake, so instead I’ve written this in memoriam. Reimer’s work enriched my life and gave me direction, something to aspire to be. And he was only three years older than me, for fuck’s sake.
Rest in Peace.
Fermata over Whole Rest 