Lunchtimes were always a walk around record shops. If you ever met me you would instantly know I have no interest in clothes and I have never liked coffee so I wasn’t trying stuff on or sitting in coffee shops so it was always a look at the second hand stuff and a quick shift around new releases to see what was out.
If I had heard of a band with a new release, then I’d have a look but if I had not read about it in the music press, I looked at the cover and thought “aye or no.” This genius method has I am sure deprived me of discovering music and for this reason I passed on Grandaddy.
Luckily not everyone is as stupid as me and looking at the NME best albums of the year I was asked if I had heard the Grandaddy record, I explained my logic and that person brought it in the next day giving me a look of sympathy.
However, I was correct as I listened to it that night and thought “crap cover, crap record” and handed it back the next day. My mate several months later was praising it, and I gave my knowledgeable opinion. “Did you actually listen to it?” I admitted it was on in the background, and I had listened to it once. He lent it me and said, “try it more than once,” with a few swear words thrown in for good measure.
On it went, nope not for me however I persevered, it’s not that bad, okay I’ll go again, it’s weird but interesting in places. On again, oh that’s quite good. After about a week I told him how good a record this was, more swear words.
So, what does this tell you about the actual record, bugger all I know but just let it wash over you and soak in. It’s lush, orchestral, fragile, spacious and each listen you notice another trick lead man Jason Lytle has dropped in that you didn’t notice the last time.
He’s Dumb is over eight minutes long drawing you in and hypnotising and Hewlett’s Daughter has a nice chug along riff throughout as does The Crystal Lake which is simple yet beautiful and effective and Chartsengrafs has been annoying me for ages as reminded me of something and I have just realised it’s Pixies on a good day.
If you thought song about alcoholic robots, Jed the Humanoid and how all our electrical products are swamping the world, Broken Household Appliance National Forest are not for you, which I thought, then try again.
If at first you don’t get it go back again until you do, you will thank me.
8.5/10
GIVE IT A STREAM: The Crystal Lake
I did this with ‘Bandwagonesque’.
John Medd