A Short History of Grandaddy

Grandaddy are not an alt-country band. They may look like an alt-country band. They do dress a little like truckers and they may look a little worse for wear at times, and aren't exactly in the first flush of youth. Oh yes, and they do occasionally wear beards. But they most definitely do not play country music.

Maybe there is one more similarity between Grandaddy and alt-country. The genre kind of dates back to the 1990 album 'No Depression' by the excellent Uncle Tupelo. It melds old style country pessimism with sharp punk guitars and tells stories of despair, guilt and of course remorse. Jason Lytle, singer and lyricist with Grandaddy, is also pessimistic. But the difference is he pays close attention to the problems in life that come from how new science and technology impact upon peoples lives and how that effects modern culture and nature. When you look at Grandaddy's music, apart from an occasional strummed acoustic guitar, the songs are devoid of country licks. Lytle favors analog synths and the other band members play fuzzy guitars, rolling bass, and Flaming Lips style drums. Another thing to take into consideration is that Jim Fairchild and Jason Lytle are ex pro skateboarders. Which is kind of cool.

If there is any country in Grandaddy's music it is to do with the honesty and purity of the songs. It doesn't materialize through a lap-steel of a twangy guitar. Their debut album was called 'Under The Western Freeway' and it was released in 1998. It plays around with the idea that stability and familiarity are good while change is usually bad. For example Lytle sings 'Go progress chrome, I won't be at your unveiling, I like it how it's always been'. There is an anti summer madness song called 'Summer Here Kids' and on the track 'AM 180' Lytle advises a friend 'Don't change your name, keep it the same, for fear I may lose you again'. Fair enough, the lyrics are well conceived and clever but without the band's excellent blend of electronica and guitars they would be rendered somewhat meaningless. It all appears to be in the soundscape, the sweeping landscapes of sound. On the track 'Laughing Stock' he sings 'We do believe it ends right here', but it could have ended there and Grandaddy would still have been a fine influential band.

Then in 2000, they released 'The Sophtware Slump. The songs had a cleaner sound and were in lush setting. They were also a little more direct and less understated. The album shows that Grandaddy had learnt how to get the most out of the studio setting, a little like kindred spirits the Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev. The opening track is called 'He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's The Pilot' and is ten minutes long. It's a spine-tingling epic of a song which becomes ever more haunting as it progresses. It's full of atmosphere and experimentalism. 'Another standout track is the poppy 'The Crystal Lake'. It bursts with energy and a fine keyboard arpeggio motif and again the musical ideas are packed in. Then there's 'Jed The Humanoid' which tells the story of a highly evolved robot which didn't get the attention it wanted, so it started drinking and 'fizzled and popped... until finally he stopped'. Its an unlikely theme for a great song and when set to sparse and melodramatic piano and some odd robot noises it sounds even stranger on paper. Yet it comes across all honest and pure when heard and may prove once and for all that Grandaddy are not an alt-country band.