| A Pretty Mess By This One Band | 1996 |
| Under The Western Freeway | 1997 |
| The Sophtware Slump | 2000 |
| Concrete Dunes | 2002 |
| Sumday | 2003 |
Masters of distorted indie rock mixed with cheap-sounding keyboard noises (sounds like they gather together all their old toy Casios sometimes, along with other inexpensive keys out there), proud owners of some of the most awkward song titles in the history of man, and some of the neatest futuristic atmospheres in modern rock (both musically and lyrically), Grandaddy are probably a good example of why it's sometimes difficult for me to review bands who are right in the midst of a successful career and could still yet have a lot of potential for great and unique-sounding music ahead of them (if, as the band states in the Sumday liner notes, they don't "get too fed up with the music business"). At this point, songwriter/vocalist Jason Lytle is just as capable of empty-sounding, monotonous and boring music as he is wonderfully emotional, atmospheric and catchy, the latter especially evidenced by The Sophtware Slump, one of the best albums I've heard come out of the 00's decade we as a human civilization still haven't come up with a half-decent name for. Geez.
There's not all that much I can write for this introduction, actually, since the albums explain themselves. Maybe the names of other members, I guess? Along with main man Lytle, the band was formed in 1992 with bassist Kevin Garcia and drummer Aaron Burtch, guitarist Jim Fairchild and keyboardist Tim Dryden being added on a few years later. I should probably also mention they're one of the most lousily-named bands ever in terms of what their music actually sounds like - judging by their name, I'd expect them to be a 'hip-sounding' rap or electronica outfit rather than a band that has often been compared to such forever obscure death metal acts as Pavement and Radiohead. But whatever....
--Nick Karn
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Egg Hit And Jack Too. LOW POINTS: Pre-Merced, Gentle Spike Resort.
Generally acknowledged as Grandaddy's first release, this little 23 minute EP is certainly a mess, and not that much more. Surprisingly enough, I've read a few reviews that proclaim this as an excellent effort for the indie underground, but I just don't hear it - what I do hear is an undistinguished band performing an underdeveloped set of generic songs, as if they were that way because they had to be recorded as quickly as possible. Seriously, it's hard to imagine many songs with less personality or hooks than "Pre-Merced" or the standard rumbling "Taster" (whose chorus is admittedly memorable, but man, the song overall is so unassuming), while "Gentle Spike Resort" is like a diet version of their best excursions into mellower territory. Plus, the slight instrumentals "Away Birdies With Special Sounds" (just boring acoustic strumming with some guy that sounds like Adam Sandler talking over it) and "Peeano" (lo-fi tuneless piano) definitely contribute to this half-assed feel.
There are a couple promising songs, though. Of course, the screaming on "Kim, You Bore Me To Death" is about as threatening as Tickle Me Elmo, and the chord sequence for the chorus was used to better and catchier effect on the far superior "Now It's On" seven years later, but it's still a good song, with a nice rawness to the guitar work. And then there's the only song that deserves to be ranked up there with their best stuff, the closing instrumental "Egg Hit And Jack Too" (see what I mean about these awkward titles??). I really dig the arrangement on here, as it goes from a chaotic and tense rocking theme (with neat guitar work I can definitely see creativity in) to a despairing orchestrated slow backdrop with Easterny embellishments. Regardless, most of this stuff isn't really worth hearing in light of their next couple efforts, and it always gets overshadowed by whatever random album I decide to throw on afterwards. Call this one a completist-only curiosity.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: A.M. 180, Collective Dreamwish Of Upperclass Elegance. LOW POINTS: None, really.
Hey, now we're getting somewhere! After that average display of genericism on the EP up there, their first full-length album shows quite a lot of creative growth from before, and it was their deserved breakthrough success. The low budget keyboard noises, futuristic soundscapes, and almost personal lyrics show themselves a lot on here, as opposed to the last one where they were used sparingly on one or two songs at most, and the melodies are considerably stronger. Plus, the whole album seems to have an effective 'early evening' kind of atmosphere that runs through the layered music - lots of different keyboard and guitar sounds, yet it still has a 'home brewed' feel as well. There are still a few songs that sound a bit frustratingly empty and unfinished in the tradition of Pretty Mess, but nothing on here is bad, even if the just 'good' quality of a lot of the album ensures I can't call it too huge of an improvement, though it is a big one.
Among the catchiest tunes here are the single "Summer Here Kids" (the echoey piano line goes along wonderfully with the indie rock drive of the guitars, there's great vocal conviction in the chorus, and the sudden shift to acoustic is a good display of pop smarts) and a song that I swear I heard before I listened to the album. Was "A.M. 180" actually a hit? If not, it should have been - a keyboard riff from an old Casio amongst the guitar distortion will make you sound so indie, dude, and it doesn't hurt the vocal hook is catchy as hell either, enough that you won't even notice the song doesn't have a chorus. And its' followup "Collective Dreamwish Of Upperclass Elegance" is where they show a great mastery of atmosphere, with an effective layering of synths, acoustic guitars and some neat repetitive helicopterish sound effect, and the nice imagery-filled lyrics ('here I sit and play guitar, count stars, out in the country') certainly help too. Very neat majestic layered tune we have there.
The album also opens up with a nice display of layering as well - can't beat the choir-sounding Mellotrons, moody guitars and a variety of keyboards on "Nonphenomenal Lineage", and the lyrics have a depressing finality to them that could fit on the coldest Sophtware Slump moments ('seems you came up rather short, of the average sort / now I must inform you've no reason left to remain here'). The only problem with it, as shared with a few other songs on here, is that it kinda seems to be lacking in development - it seems like it should build up to a somewhat bigger climax than it does instead of ending at just over 3 minutes. Ditto with the gorgeous closer "Lawn And So On" - I wish that looped keyboard theme with understated piano and harmonies could go on for a long time (and it probably could get away with it), and it abruptly stops at just over 2 minutes with a simple spoken 'sorry'? Ehh.
Ah, I can't complain too much about the album, though. Some of this sounds like the kind of stuff I'd record as Physical Illusion with my cheap keyboards if I had any singing, production or playing talent! Plus, I certainly couldn't write something as emotionally striking as "Everything Beautiful Is Far Away" with maybe my favorite lyrics contained within, not to mention the wonderfully lo-fi keyboards at their most simultaneously wacky (check out that intro) and majestic (in the instrumental breaks). As for the other four tracks on here, well, I can't say that much about them, but they are decent - the awkwardly titled faux-creepy one minute throwaway "Poisoned At Hasty Thai Food" has a neat bassline, "Go Progress Chrome" and "Why Took Your Advice" are pleasant understated Casio ballads of the sort Sumday would later be way too dominated with (they sound fine here, though) and "Laughing Stock" is a haunting mini-epic with another cool futuristic vibe. Overall, a pretty good start here, and they would grow considerably stronger with the next one...
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: The Crystal Lake, He's Simple He's Dumb He's The Pilot, Jed The Humanoid, Broken Household Appliance National Forest. LOW POINTS: None.
The big leap comes here, an album that's undoubtedly Grandaddy's reason for existence, unless they somehow tap into some unchartered realm that allows them to create 18 classic albums in a row. But anyway, this is where Jason Lytle and the gang realize their potential, creating some sort of semi-conceptual effort that has a technologically oriented panoramic landscape, not unlike a certain 1997 album by the band that reached the peak of all music on "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors". Most important, though, are the songs, and they're strong enough to call The Sophtware Slump a great success - it hits upon a fabulous balance between the depressing 'futuristic' atmosphere where the lyrics often take upon the machine point of view, and the driving indie rock side of old, particularly during the stretch of the first seven songs or so, which certainly comprises some of the better music to come out of the double zero decade so far.
The album actually opens with, of all things, a nearly 9 minute epic in the form of "He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's The Pilot", a three-part ode to the '2000 man' that probably has their most accomplished arrangement thus far, moving from a chilling harpsichord-sounding opening to some otherworldly swirling symphonic synth-textured, altered-vocal part to a really long spacey ending coda. I got to admit, an almost 6 minute section of pretty much not much more than the line 'are you giving in, 2000 man???' over a few minor-key piano chords and relatively sparse embellishments can be really hard to take for some listeners, and I thought it was way too overlong at first, but now I can't imagine it any shorter - the atmosphere can really hit you over the head the sheer hopelessness of it all, the repeated 'if you love this world, then this world won't love you' lines are simply shattering, and there's enough of the typical keyboard stuff going on in the mix to keep things interesting. It's deservedly the most celebrated song on the album, but certainly not the only one worth celebrating.
Especially when it's on the same album as "Jed The Humanoid", an utterly tragic tale of a robot whose creators that were once so proud of what they had made eventually stop paying attention to him altogether for 'new inventions', eventually leading to his breakdown/death. The slow, depressing music (more bleak piano, choir vocals and the saddest-sounding synths in the universe) and melodies (the echoey repetition of each line) makes for a heartbreaking masterpiece. Now, how many songs can make you emotionally relate to the death of machines so well? Not very many, I must say. The quite personal ballad "Underneath The Weeping Willow" is no cheerfest either, with more piano despair (that particular instrument in the mix seems to be run through a delay effect or something like that, creating a flurry of beautiful notes) and a maybe unassuming but overall sorrow-filled melody.
The more rocking songs that comprise the rest of this stretch are for the most part, just as good, often even great, and effectively help the mood from becoming too depressing. In fact, the single "The Crystal Lake" is my personal favorite - it's one of the most gorgeous and awesome pop tunes I've heard in recent memory, combining an uplifting-beyond-words guitar line and a just about perfect vocal melody, with the same drive of anything from Western Freeway, but blowing away any of the (still really good) attempts in that area. Ooh, and those keyboards! Similarly, "Hewlett's Daughter" and "Chartsengrafs" are both solid rockers showcasing everything Grandaddy's good at in this area, from the former's 'sparkling' feel contributed by the keys and how they merge effortlessly with the heavier guitars and fabulous melodies, and the latter's more dramatically building, yet condensed, arrangement and emotional resonance.
Probably the most dynamic of all these songs here that combines both sides is "Broken Household Appliance National Forest", whose title speaks for itself - it basically tells of a forest where people dump their broken household appliances, and how it affects the environment around them, a wonderful concept for a song in my opinion. Admittedly, the flow between its' quieter acoustic parts and louder heavier parts isn't the best, but when both parts are extremely catchy, and the more rocking moments (the chorus and the jam section at the end) have the most relentlessly fun energy of the album by far, with excellent guitar work and drummimg, that just seems like nitpicking.
Unfortunately, the album falls off a little within the last four songs, which are still good, are nowhere near as emotionally striking or great as the others. Well, as far as emotion goes, "Jed's Other Poem (Beautiful Ground)" is up there, with that previously mentioned humanoid's final thoughts written in poetry form, but the music and melodies are too plodding and repetitive (though I do enjoy such lines as 'I try to sing it funny like Beck, but it's bringing me down'). We've also got an unassuming instrumental ("E. Knievel Interlude"), and "Miner At The Dial-A-View", which I once considered a highlight, but though it hits upon an even better variation of the 'early evening' Western Freeway atmosphere, it really never progresses into anything much, just repeating itself the entire time. But at least "So You'll Aim Toward The Sky" is a beautiful closer, almost like a more developed "Lawn And So On" with vocals, and a more textured backdrop (are those violins I hear?). Man, despite these letdowns, part of me still wants to give this a 9, though, but a high 8.5 I'll probably settle on. Excellent work either way.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Now It's On, The Group Who Couldn't Say. LOW POINTS: Lost On Yer Merry Way, O.K. With My Decay.
Agggh - what a disappointment! Well, the All Music Guide points out that this album ironically sounds more like a 'sophomore slump' than the wittily titled pun of The Sophtware Slump did, but you know what another great irony here is? An album called Sumday that actually sounds a lot worse than the sum of its' parts to me, because during the sessions, the band apparently didn't realize that most of the material they were coming up with sounded like almost the same song. See, a lot of this stuff might have turned out a lot better if it was mixed in with a few different diversions, and not mixed in with a lot of similar sounding straightforward songs that seem to regress right back to the vibe of Under The Western Freeway, or ballads that sound like rewrites of "So You'll Aim Toward The Sky" from the last album. Heck, three of the songs on here rhyme with the album title - how monotonous can things possibly get?
That's not to say there aren't obvious high points on here, because there are. In fact, the opening single "Now It's On" is right up there with any of the Sophtware highlights, an awesome rocker with a simple but life-affirming chorus melody (the way the keyboards replicate it during the instrumental break is one of their most glorious moments, and I love the little 'orchestral hit' keyboard effect when the title is sung), but basically the whole song is as infectious as anything they've ever done. "The Group Who Couldn't Say", meanwhile, is probably the lyrical peak, a tale of a group of computer nerds(?) who 'won some kind of prize for selling way more stuff than the other guys' and they explored nature in the process - the line 'her drag and click had never yielded anything as perfect as a dragonfly' pretty much says it all, and the vocal hooks and keyboards are also at a nicely poppy high point.
Honestly, there are several other good moments on here, too, like the wonderful chorus harmonies and depressing lyrics on "Saddest Vacant Lot In All The World", the late period Flaming Lips-style "The Final Push To The Sum" (only more subdued, if that's possible), the decent pop chorus of "I'm On Standby", and the fun quirkiness of "El Caminos In The West" and "Stray Dog And The Chocolate Shake", but describing them in detail is impossible because most are stylistically the same two songs played over and over, very much lacking the emotional depth of Sophtware. Plus, I doubt variety could save such displays of dullness with totally unspectacular, bland melodies as "Lost On Your Merry Way" and "O.K. With My Decay" (the lyrics on the latter are also stupidly trite, especially for this band, and the same goes for "Yeah Is What We Had"... guh???) Also, a lot of the blander moments are stuck in the middle of the album, making it a difficult chore of a listen. I don't even know why I mentioned most of them - I mean, what's the point? Everything except for the lowest points is decent to great, but man, it's a drag being a rock (and listening to this album). Hopefully, they can do better next time out.
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