Despite all the couple bazillion EPs, tour-only albums and other miscallenous stuff, it’s safe to say that Grandaddy had an abysmally short career for such a brilliant band, only going up to four main studio albums. Even the end was nothing glamorous or ‘legendary’ – the band simply wasn’t financially supportive for the band despite their cult popularity.

Like everyone knows though, Jason Lytle was the actual main component of Grandaddy, the rest of the band mainly operating as live players while Lytle wrote and performed everything in studio. As such there was always hope of continuation, especially when Lytle went on small solo tours and talked about continuing on music. Three years after Grandaddy’s swansong What Happened to the Fambly Cat?, the continuation’s here in the guise of a Jason Lytle solo album titled Yours Truly, the Commuter.

And hey, what do you know? It sounds like Grandaddy.

That is a good thing, by the way.

In a year full of glorious opening statements (Doves’ Jetstream, Rubik’s Goji Berries, Manics’ Peeled Apples, Bat for Lashes’ Glass, etc), Yours Truly, the Commuter continues the popular trend by starting itself in what is probably the most heartwarming comeback song this year is going to get. Tiny little bleeps bloop around for a while in a very Grandaddy-esque way, before a sunny, acoustic stroll begins with a bass line and an organ. The moment when the song finally explodes into its full sound, synth string galore and all, is one of the loveliest musical moments of an album this year. “All work and no play might have done me in / But I’m stocked I’m back after where I’ve been“.

Lytle’s solo album is indeed musically like Grandaddy’s past four albums. Same not-too-hifi sounds, same synthesis of achybreaky guitar walls and groovy synths, same tired voice that sounds both depressed and relieved, and so forth. In essence, it continues from where Fambly Cat left the job. The big difference is in the mood – instead of the suppressed observational melancholy of Grandaddy’s four albums, Commuter sounds unbound and optimistic. Sure, there’s space for some heartaching ballads as usual – the best of these moments being the preview track “Flying Thru Canyons” that gets some additional instrumention on the album – but whenever Lytle is not sitting in front of his piano and singing with an ache in his voice, Commuter’s sound is upbeat and sunny. There’s no emotional baggage in the sound, everything sounds worriless, unstrained. “Brand New Sun” storms from acoustic strolls and nifty synths into a stormer chorus, “Ghost of My Old Dog” beats along with an irresistable rhythm, “Rollin’ Home Alone” advances with a chilled out pace that’s perfect for lying in the grass and watching the clouds move by.

Somewhere around halfway through the album the music takes a slight turn, giving more time to the slower songs and less for the happy-go-lucky rockers (leaving the first half with a bang though with the wild “It’s the Weekend”). Even so, the unstrained feeling stays the same. There may be a hint of melancholy here and there but most of the time Commuter is simply relaxed. Songs like “You’re Too Gone” and “Here for Good” shine with an optimistic light washed in slight weepiness reminiscent of thinking about your childhood days , rather than brood in the darkness. And as a nice little throwback, “Fürget It” musically reminds of the Grandaddy beauty “Final Push to the Sum”.

I don’t think anyone was concerned at all what would happen with Yours Truly, the Commuter considering Lytle’s track record so far, but the album still manages to be a wonderful surprise just because of its different mood. The release ties well with the sunny spring and upcoming summer – seems like Yours Truly, the Commuter is going to shape up to be the off-shoot summer album of 2009. And most of all, it’s amazing to have Grandaddy back in one form or another.

MP3: Yours Truly, the Commuter
MP3: Brand New Sun

Pre-order from Amazon: UK / US

Tags: Grandaddy, Jason Lytle

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 at 4:31 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.