Damien Jurado – Waters Ave S (Loser Edition Aqua Vinyl)

2022 promises to be a banner year for Damien Jurado.
Not only does the year mark the songwriter’s 50th
birthday, but it also sees the summer release of his 18th
studio album, the impressionistic and tuneful Reggae Film
Star. And hang on, there’s more: on September 23rd,
2022 Sub Pop Records reissues Jurado’s debut
full-length, 1997’s Waters Ave S. The work of a young
artist driven by complex inner visions, the LP offers a fresh
chance to examine how far Jurado has come in the 25
years since its release—but also demonstrates how much
of his point of view and vivid scenecraft was firmly in place
from the very start.

A veteran of the DIY punk and hardcore scenes, Jurado
had begun taking steps into the world of lo-fi home
recording. But with renowned indie rock producer Steve
Fisk acting as producer, Waters Ave S introduced Jurado
to the independent music world, presenting a set of 13
songs that encompass odes to remote desert outposts,
late-night conversations with Elvis, a purple anteater, and
the great beyond. Though new to the studio, Jurado’s
storytelling lens is well honed; these compositions are
filled with characters wandering the psychic wilderness,
flawed but nonetheless certain of themselves, or at least
certain enough.

Those only familiar with Jurado’s ambient-tinged folk or
AM gold psychedelia will find the album more punky than
expected, replete with post-punk basslines, electric
guitars, and a youthful tenor to Jurado’s voice. But what’s
most striking about the record is how fully-formed his
world is, especially on songs like the lilting, drum-looped
“Angel of May,” the sci-fi “Space Age Mom,” and
mournful simplicity of the title track. Jurado was just
getting started, but the path he’d follow seems laid out by
Waters Ave S. 25 years later, it’s clear that the creative
spirit that fuels this idiosyncratic and exuberant record is
one that still propels Jurado to this day.