There always was a glorious sense of exhausted tenacity in the sound of Grandaddy. Ever since I first heard ‘Summer Here Kids’ from the album Under The Western Freeway
, Grandaddy has always given my music listening a very special splash of melancholy. That’s not to say Lytle’s music is consistently downbeat or depressing – far from it – but that there is the ever present sense that there really should be something more, and that after all the effort put in it simply sucks that the full appreciation deserved never seemed to appear.
On Yours Truly, The Commuter, Lytle has presented a fine set of songs that work as a great follow on to Grandaddy’s swansong, Just Like the Fambly Cat
. Littered amongst the traditional, dreamy computerpop, are a stack of hooks and lyrics that show continued defiance; It’s The Weekend manages to champion the joy of the end of a working week without degrading into a hedonistic ‘living for the weekend’ mentality – instead we get the sense he’s overjoyed but once he gets through the front door he’s crashing on the couch with a beer and switching on the football with no intention of moving for the next 48 hours.
This latest offering is a joy for anyone who was following Grandaddy and was justifyably disappointed at the news when they called it a day. It’s good to know Lytle will continue to create work which lets us little people know we’re not alone.
