grandaddy
sumday

V2, 2003

Although Grandaddy’s 2000 album, The Sophtware Slump, is considered by many critics to be their chef d’œuvre, their follow up to it is often criminally underrated – despite (or perhaps, because of?) it being a much more enjoyable and fun listening experience.

Whereas The Sophtware Slump was a dark and difficult listen, Sumday is remarkably upbeat, despite covering similar themes – most obviously, the ever-increasing dependence that humans are placing upon machines and technology, and where that may lead us. It’s all a bit more mellow and accessible than much of their earlier work, which actually works perfectly, as they never lose their quirky and clever eccentricities.

For those that haven’t heard the group before, similarities with indie and low-fi rock artists such as The Flaming Lips, Pavement, and Sparklehorse abound, but Grandaddy’s music has always had its own distinctive slant. With frontman Jason Lytle’s fragile voice sounding like a cross between Neil Young and Wayne Coyne, and many songs heavily keyboard driven, the Californian group convey their carefree  Californian lifestyle (members of the group are apparently avid skateboarders) through their tunes.

One of the immediately challenging aspects of Sumday is that the entire first half of the album is extremely “samey” – it will take a few listens to distinguish each of the songs on their own merits. Upon subsequent listens, the similarities between tracks actually shows itself as the major strength of the album – Lytle’s songwriting has matured from earlier albums, with less reliance on gimmicky songs and sounds. There is a definite tinge of classic and prog pop influences throughout the album – think ELO and The Alan Parsons Project.

A first half highlight is The Group Who Couldn’t Say, with its cute story of a group of office workers who get floored speechless in spending a day with nature. With lines like “Her drag n’ click had never yielded anything as perfect as a dragonfly“, and a chorus which personalises the lonely office, it nicely captures the bands constrasting feelings on the subjects of, well, office workers and nature.

It wouldn’t be a Grandaddy album without at least one quirky track – and The Stray Dog & the Chocolate Shake fits the bill here, with its delightfully cheesy yet simple riff and lyrics.

The albums penultimate track, The Warming Sun, is its most beautiful. Combining a piano riff with proggy keyboards, Lytle’s lyrics will conjure up memories for most guys who have ever yearned for a girl that they could never be with.

In hindsight, this album probably holds up better than the critically acclaimed Flaming Lips album, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, which was released around the same time and handled similar futuristic and technology-vs-human themes. Sumday may not break much new ground, but as far as uncomplicated and fun pop albums go, it can’t be beat.