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Rating: A cohesive album is not necessarily monotonous; a varied one is not necessarily disjointed.
The previous work by Grandaddy, The Sophtware Slump, is one of those albums – rare masterpieces – that, without falling into repetition, express a specific concept, innovative in its inspiration and themes (in this case, the collapse of technology expressed by the strange lo-fi sounds of the rockers from Modesto, CA).
The Sophtware Slump is a masterpiece; Sumday is not.
Just to be clear.
It's a good album, but it’s not the one with which the five bearded "grandpas" write their page in the history of music.
All the excellent ingredients of their indie rock are present: gentle distortions, the slight Pavement-like slacker vibe (to which, in my opinion, they are superior, albeit indebted), the repetitive yet celestial scales of the keyboard, and above all, Jason Lytle's voice – a light and inventive timbre.
What is missing, indeed, is the invention that one might expect from their brilliance.
The tracks, especially in the first part (I'm On Standby, The Go In The Go-For-It, The Group Who Couldn't Say, Lost On Yer Merry Way), follow one another, somewhat (I hate to say it) flatly reproducing the formula that The Sophtware Slump – but also the first, Under The Western Freeway – hinted at without ever forcing it.
The album recovers a bit in the second half, after El Caminos In The West, which together with the beautiful opening track Now It's On fully rewrites the vibrancy of the group’s Californian spirit, and especially with Saddest Vacant Lot In All The World (when a melody is so simple it moves you) and The Warming Sun – the only true invention of the album.
For those who adore Grandaddy like I do, in short, Sumday is a must. In the context of their group history, however, it will certainly not be the "day of reckoning".
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 I'm on Standby (03:12)
I'm rolling down a well worn road
I'm wondering if I'll ever know
If I'll be better than I was before
When I surface through the service door
Bye
I'm on standby
Out of order or sort of unaligned
Powered down for redesign
Bye bye
I'm on standby
According to the work order you signed
I'll be down for some time
I'll be down for some time
I got good at saying "I gotta go"
Number one at saying "I don't know"
But from the stories I've heard
You humans require more words
Bye
I'm on standby
Out of order or sort of unaligned
Powered down for redesign
Bye bye
I'm on standby
According to the work order you signed
I'll be down for some time
I'll be down for some time
04 The Group Who Couldn't Say (04:03)
Doo doo doo dit doo, doo doo doo dit doo
The tale I'm gonna tell
Is about the group who couldn't say
Together they discovered with each other the perfection of an outdoor day
They had won some kinda prize
For selling way more stuff than the other guys
They were the shrewdest unit-movers
So their bosses got 'em tours of the countryside
Doo doo doo dit doo, doo doo doo dit doo
Holly saw a certain bird
But she couldn't work up any words
She kinda lost her shoes and lost her mind
And smashed her phone upon a fallen pine
And Darryl couldn't talk at all
He wondered how the trees had grown to be so tall
He calculated all the height and width and density
For insurance purposes
And at the desktop there's crying sounds
For all the projects due
And no one else is around
And the sprinklers that come on at 3 am
Sound like crowds of people asking
"Are you happy what you're doing?"
Ah ah ah
And at the desktop there's crying sounds
For all the projects due
And noone else is around
And the sprinklers that come on at 3 am
Sound like crowds of people asking
"Are you happy what you're doing?"
Becky wondered why
She'd never noticed dragonflies
Her drag and click had never yielded
Anything as perfect as a dragonfly
And then the supervisor stood
Right in the creek and it felt really good
And that's about the time he finally had realised the importance of this day
And that's about the time he realised
That he was with the group who couldn't say
Hey hey
And they felt so good it hurt forget the words
They were the group who couldn't say
05 Lost on Yer Merry Way (06:21)
Trouble with a capital T, "Tie him down" they said, But tired ain't for me
Let this one fly...
I wonder what they'll make of me, When i'm good and gone in song
In God's country
Let this one fly...
Off on a merry way, Often in a lotta days, Lost on yer merry way
Cause unrevealed and never known...And never known...
Trouble with people like me, Tie 'em down and then they vanish instantly
Let this one fly...
Its really no problem, you see, When the sky ignites and your days crash quietly,
Let this one fly...
Off on a merry way, Often alotta days, Lost on yer merry way
Cause unrevealed and tucked away
Often alotta days, Lost on yer merry way, Cause unrevealed and never known
All that i'm asking tonight, is that I make it back home alive
No explosions, no crashes, no fights, I wanna get back home...
Back home...back home...
I wanna get back home...
Back home...back home...
I wanna get back home...
Back home...back home...
I wanna get back home...
Back home...back home...
Back home tonite
06 El Caminos in the West (03:22)
Doo doo doo
So there's my baby
Laughing at me in the sun
Wonder if I'm the weaker one
I feel so far away from home
Always so far away
The Pacific will pacify us when we're done
If only we weren't always spun
I feel so far away from home
Always so far away
From El Caminos in the west
All collapsed and futureless
I'll paint the words a simple wish
For peace of mind and happiness
El Caminos in the west
We're all collapsed and futureless
I'll paint the words a simple wish
For peace of mind and happiness
Doo doo doo
Here comes the chaos
Perfectly on time again
Is it ever gonna end
I feel so far away from home
Always so far away
The demolition still can be a lot of fun
Someone should tell me that I'm done
I feel so far away from home
Always so far away
From El Caminos in the west
All collapsed and futureless
I'll paint the words a simple wish
For peace of mind and happiness
El Caminos in the west
We're all collapsed and futureless
I'll paint the words a simple wish
For peace of mind and happiness
Doo doo doo
09 Stray Dog and the Chocolate Shake (03:43)
the supervisor guy turns off the factory lights,
so the robots have to work in the dark.
and theres a car load of kids, with beer and cigarettes,
burnin' out and doin' lawn jobs in the park.
there's a shitty limosine parked in front of the bar,
it never got to drive any movie stars.
but the guy in the driver's seat don't care,
with his wierd cologne and his magic hair. (it's magic)
the sofa and the fridge are on the car,
but they aren't strapped down,
and we're drivin' all over town.
and the used-up krylon cans that the farmer found,
were used to paint the foothills brown.
so there's a high school football coach sittin on the couch,
with a toothpick in his mouth.
and the stray dog won't forget the day,
he tricked him with a chocolate shake. (little trick)
10 O.K. With My Decay (06:10)
I woke up Tuesday morning
to coming down
without a sound
coming back down
The pressure put upon me
it goes and goes
til it thinks it got me
it tries and tries
as it might to trick me
to breaking back down
I'm OK
In truth I say
I'm OK
In truth I say
I'm OK
With my decay
I have no choice
I have no voice
I have no say
On my decay
I have no choice
so I'll rejoice
I'm OK
With my decay
I have no choice
I have no voice
I have no say
On my decay
I have no choice
so I'll rejoice
I'm OK
I'm OK
I'm OK
I'm OK
I'm OK
I'm OK
11 The Warming Sun (05:43)
In a dream
You were sitting there waiting by the door for me
And I got the opportunity
To experience the experience once again
How it could have maybe been
But in real life
You're in another world
You're with another guy
Who doesn't have to cheat
And never has to lie
And all that stuff I didn't get
Comes so easy to him
He doesn't even have to try
But do you ever ask yourself
How it could have maybe been
I haven't been that bad
But I haven't been that good
Overmisunderstood
Oh I wish I really could
Enjoy the warming sun
Enjoy a warm someone
And end the need to hide
Away alone inside
No I haven't been that bad
But I haven't been that good
Overmisunderstood
Oh I wish I really could
Enjoy the warming sun
Enjoy a warm someone
And end the need to hide
Away alone inside
In a dream
You were sitting there waiting by the door for me
12 The Final Push to the Sum (04:23)
I never know their names, But i smile just the same
New faces...Strange places, Most everything i see, Becomes a blur to me
And i'm wasted because, The fast pace is too much
Here at the final push to the sum
If my old life is done, Then, what have i become? What have i become?
Every now and then, The memories creep in
A breeze and blue skies, The trees and you and i
But if my old life is done, i guess that i've moved on
To new faces and strange places, Here at the final push to the sum
If my old life is done, then, What have i become?
What have i become?
What have i become?
What have i become?
What have i become?
What have i become?
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By theego
Jason Lytle crafts songs that would have been hailed as miraculous in England if it weren’t for the fact that the band hails from a quiet town in California.
The nostalgic 'Saddest Vacant Lot in All the World' could be the soundtrack of a love story at its twilight.
