Grandaddy, Bush Hall, London
The splendid return of alt.country
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Your support makes all the difference.It's three years since Grandaddy last released an album, 2000's excellent The Sophtware Slump, which saw them make the move from indie hopefuls to the edges of the big time. The intervening period, though, has seen their deceptively fragile, rhymically robust style become the norm for "alternative" sounds.
If the Californians had feared they'd been forgotten they'll have been cheered by the response to this peculiar showcase, an invitation-only affair packed with fans eager to hear what Jason Lytle's combo have been up to. They certainly haven't been shaving. Drummer Aaron Burtch's ginger beard is now positively Biblical, while only the dapper guitarist Jim Fairchild still invests in razor blades. The same old selection of junk shop keyboards remains too, now held together with shiny, new purple gaffer tape.
Understandably, hopes that this slot might feature plenty of new material are raised by the sight of the full-size posters for the forthcoming album Sumday, which festoon the walls. And it's a great-sounding record: Lytle's plaintive whine, in the vulnerable Neil Young tradition, carries some terrific melodies, such as the hook-laden single "Now It's On" and more desperate heartbreakers like "Lost On Yer Merry Way" and "OK With My Decay".
But Grandaddy aren't quite as ready as the promotional machine, and only the single and the gorgeous "Yeah Is All We Had" actually make it into tonight's set. They sound better than ever, though. Favourites such as "Beautiful Ground", "Levitz" and "Miner at the Dial-A-View" sound more "now" than they did back then. The lovely "Hewlett's Daughter" boasts a tricky new guitar intro and "The Crystal Lake" works a treat at twice the pace of the studio version.
If you hadn't discovered them before, investigate. If you have and were wondering, they're just fine.
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