Grandaddy - Sophtware Slump

  by Maarten Schiethart

published: 17 / 12 / 2001

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This old fart remembers the days of Lou Reed's "Berlin" and I wonder if in twenty years time I'll still be as stunned by this Grandaddy album as I am by that. Right now, I'd say: 'yes' ! "The Sophtware Slump" has a similarly appealing but disorientating quality, and, like "Berlin", it focuses on feeling out of place and thrives on mind-wandering melancholy. It is about searching for a sense of space while coping with personal shortcomings. Jason Lyttle's reedy, but comforting voice finds the right tone on nearly all the tracks. Grandaddy's attitude is similar to that of bands like Pavement or REM, but their surprising dominance over those bands is highlighted by their coherence, which is only now just beginning to surface. No mumbling, or sloppiness just for the sake of art. Instead these very relaxed Californians aim to entertain your every fantasy. Psychedelica and folkpop meet on several of the tracks, while other songs-are as AM erican as 'hell' and-all 'wake up tracks' -are potential single candidates. Just because Grandaddy deliver some of the best Top 40 material does not mean, however, that the album is built around possible chart entries. The remarkable coherence of "The Sophtware Slump" lies in its natural inclusion of great pop tradition. Grandaddy have worked out the benefits of cut and paste techniques, which they have imported from cities, but this urban attitude is supplemented by their own brand of country and western. At times, to drop yet more big names, The Byrds come to mind. At others "The Sophtware Slump" feels like the album Pavement might never make.

Track Listing:-

1 He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's The Pilot
2 Hewlett's Daughter
3 Jed The Humanoid
4 The Crystal Lake
5 Chartsengrafs
6 Underneath The Weeping Willow
7 Broken Household Appliance National Forest
8 Jed's Other Poem (Beautiful Ground)
9 E. Knievel Interlude (The Perils Of Keeping It Rea
10 Miner At The Dial-A-View
11 So You'll Air Toward The Sky

Band Links:-

http://www.grandaddymusic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/grandaddymusic/
https://twitter.com/Grandaddy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandaddy

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