Here’s a wild story for you: Rusty Reid recorded an entire album in the 1980s, then just… left it sitting there. For forty years. It simply stayed in the vault while Reid went about his life, moving from Texas to the Pacific Northwest, building his reputation as an indie-folk-pop-country-rock artist (yes, that’s a lot of hyphens, but the man contains multitudes). Now in 2024, he’s finally dusted off “The Unreasonables” and started releasing these vintage gems.
“The shortest distance between two people isn’t a straight line. It’s the courage to ask instead of assume.”
“Let’s Just Talk” is the third single from this archaeological dig, and it’s a masterclass in capturing that awkward, thrilling, absolutely terrifying moment when things might get physical, but nobody knows quite what the other person wants. The narrator is stuck in that excruciating limbo, trying to read signals that may or may not exist, haunted by past mistakes, desperately not wanting to screw this up.
The jangly guitars and new wave-adjacent production give it that 1980s shimmer, but the emotional core feels completely current. Turns out, relationship anxiety is timeless. So go give it a listen, especially if you stick around for that bridge and beyond. Reid promises it pays off, and he’s not lying.
Stream “Let’s Just Talk” and the full album “The Unreasonables” now, because apparently, some things really do age like a fine wine.
1. If You Could Time Travel and Tell 1980s Rusty That This Song Would Finally Come Out in 2025, What Would You Say?
A- Hello Mohit. Thanks for the interview. Oh, that’s a good question. 1980s Rusty would probably be quite miffed about the situation. I can hear the conversation: 1980s Rusty: “You never did anything with these songs? Really?” I reply: “Well, eventually I did.” 1980s Rusty: “Like when? The Nineties?” I reply: “A bit later than that.” 1980s Rusty: “Don’t tell me the turn of the century.” I respond: “Sorta. Just a quarter of the century in.” 1980s Rusty: “You waited forty-something years to get these out? Still the King of Procrastination, I see!” I answer: “At least I’m consistent at something. But guess what? People actually like the songs.” 1980s Rusty: “A lot of good that does me.” I reply. “Sorry dude. You wouldn’t believe the distractions we have now.”
2. You’ve Been Sitting on This Album Since the Reagan Administration—What Finally Made You Say “It’s Time”?
A- Truthfully, I wasn’t entirely sold on the songs or the sound at the time. I was actually wanting a more polished sound. Why couldn’t we sound like Journey? We sounded more like a punk band, but far too melodic to get away with the rawer, rougher final product. When I moved from Houston to Los Angeles, I lazily pitched the tapes around to a few record labels, who seemed to concur that this kind of thing wasn’t of interest to them. I was too easily stymied. Lacked resilience, perseverance and determination. Take note kids. So I stored away the tapes and mostly forgot about them. Decades later I heard from some old bandmates who held different memories about the whole project. They urged me to do something with them. By this time, I had a home studio, so I had the tapes converted to digital, started mixing, and lo and behold we were better than I thought. Somehow the rawness was a feature, not a bug. The songs still held up as pop-rock. This album, actually more of a double-album, 19 songs, is a snapshot of where I was at the time as a songwriter and singer. It’s still far from polished, but I’m happy to get these songs out there to include in my discography.
3. The song nails that specific moment of romantic panic where you’re terrified of misreading signals. Was this based on a real situation, and if so, does that person know they inspired four decades’ worth of unreleased anxiety?
A- Yeah, “Let’s Just Talk” is one of my favorite songs on the album. It’s one of a kind in my portfolio, and I can’t think of any other artists’ songs that sound like it… or that explore this exact theme. It is based on a real-life episode. My very first lustful encounter was a disaster. She probably doesn’t even remember me. But I remember her.
4. Listening to these recordings now versus when you made them, what surprises you most?
A- Like I said, I was surprised that they are even truly listenable. We recorded in one of the cheapest recording studios in Houston. The engineer was just learning the trade, and had the cheapest equipment. So the actual recording quality on the earlier songs is definitely lo-fi. All these songs were recorded at that same studio over a period of four years. Thankfully, the engineer got better, his equipment got better, so, being arranged in chronological order, the songs sound better as the album goes along. We started off recording on one-inch, 8-track tape, and eventually got to two-inch, 24-track. “Let’s Just Talk” was one of the latter projects, so we are at least in the ballpark of professional sounding by that time. Mixing was grueling on some of them, especially the early tunes, but I think they came out decently enough. I kept them organic. Not much reverb or delay or other processing. No auto-tune. What you are hearing is what the Unreasonables were.
5. You’ve described “The Unreasonables” as almost a double album. Without spoiling everything, what can listeners expect from the rest of these time-capsule tracks?
A- It’s authentic, guitar-based rock and roll. I”m most proud of how original it is. There is a lot of dynamic movement in most of the songs. The guitar playing is a real feature. Not from me; I’m just playing rhythm guitar on these songs for the most part. But Rick Poss, Steven Beasley and Ray Hamilton are beasts on the axe. The other musicians are also outstanding. I think the nice reception the album has received is largely due to their proficiency. Thematically, it’s all about lust and love and longing and losing. There’s a cohesive sound, but each song is different, exploring the ups and downs of relationships, while always trying to mesh with catchy melodic phrases and hooks and signature guitar licks. Then there’s my quirky voice. Love it or hate it, it’s different. If you want that clonish vocal delivery so popular these days, this is not the album for you.
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