Grandaddy
Just Like The Fambly Cat

THE REVIEW

To review this album, we must start with some clarifications: it is officially their last album, as announced by the band's frontman; I have read a lot about this CD, but the constant is that all the reviews referenced comparisons with The Sophtware Slump, the album unanimously (or almost) considered their masterpiece, viewing this as a regression or a worsening - almost as if it wasn't permissible to change and this album was a curse! It must be said that The Sophtware Slump remains their masterpiece because it is brilliant, but imperfect; almost difficult to listen to with those long plains of oblique, low-fi, electronic sounds and fuzzy guitars. This album, on the other hand, is a worthy evolution, an album in the making on the group's musical idea: less brilliant and more popular, but incredibly balanced and polished, while still remaining a bright beacon in the indie landscape.

An excellent farewell, a compendium of what Grandaddy have been and could have become, which makes us even sadder. All the ingredients are there: magical intros and instrumental breaks; two tracks (Jeez Louise and Elevate Myself) that hark back to the glories of acid guitars and the "Bontempi" sounds of Under The Western Freeway; a melancholic ballad (Summer it's gone) and a light and sad psychedelic ballad (The animal world) that so much reminds me of So You'll aim toward the sky from The Sophtware Slump; and then the classic fast pseudo-punk track, reminiscent of Florida from the last EP, the Song 2 of the album (50%); a pseudo-bossanova (Where I'm animore) with a somewhat sickly but perfect solo and a lethal whining chorus - listen to understand; two tracks (Campershell Dreams and Disconnecty) that recall the low-fi and experimental Blur of 13; and then the other tracks including the very successful Rear view Mirror and Guide down denied, in pure old Grandaddy style with genuine harmonious choruses, synths, and keyboards. To finish, the beautiful This is how it always starts and the ghost track with a very early Muse-like piano over which the singer hums "I'll never return". End credits - end. Sad.

Whether you are old fans of the group or want to approach them for the first time, you will not be disappointed. Not the most beautiful album? Definitely the most successful.