If you’ve ever been to a Jay Reatard show, you know how incredible he is live. No banter, no lulls, and certainly no bullshit, Reatard (combined with bassist Stephen Pope and drummer Billy Hayes) rips through shows instead of just “playing them”. Well then came the infamous tweet (posted shortly after another free Jackpot record show) when Reatard indicated, in not so eloquent terms, that the band quit.

With European shows still scheduled, organizers scrambled to find replacements. Enter Danish punk band The Cola Freaks who, although I lived in Denmark for a year, I have never heard of. From the looks of a couple of youtube videos, Anders Thode and Jacob Elving just don’t have the pizzazz as Pope and Hayes. I mean look at this guy. Is this a face that is easily replaceable?

Fortunately, Reatard hasn’t lost anything in the transition. Here is a recent video of the new arrangement performing in London:

As for the former band, well it was just reported on pitchfork that they have joined forces with Wavves to make for an awesome trio. Yeah, I think Pope and Hayes made out just fine after the split…