Sumday

A couple years back Grandaddy released The Sophware Slump to universal acclaim. The album tackled many of the same themes as Radiohead's OK Computer but approached the hot topic of technology with a relatively primeval perspective. Where Radiohead seem insidiously paranoid, The Sophware Slump seemed mindful, frivolous and playful in its attempts to walk its listener through the band's perspective on technology. Rather than listening to a group of British sophisticates, Grandaddy seemed humble in a bearded, John Deere ball cap sort of way. The band didn't need a studio, hot shot producers or weeks of mix downs to create a sonic masterpiece; band leader Jason Lytle's vision and musical posture proved to be singularly enough. Building your pedestal higher almost seems not feasible anymore, but at the same time is usually expected of anyone who achieves something commendable. With expectations considered, Grandaddy approached their followup endeavors with simplicity; basically, they made a formative pop album. 

Sumday was originally supposed to be a double-disc concept album with the theme again focusing on the future, but this time looking at it in a mathematical way. Thus the pun, Sumday. While the concept hasn't completely shifted, somewhere in the process of recording, the format has. Rather than put out a long album full of exhaustingly complex songs, the band chose to put out 12 shorter, fathomable tracks. Sophware's "Crystal Lake" and "Hewlett's Daughter" demonstrated the band's ability to write radio-friendly songs. While those songs were great, it was the art approach of "He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot" and "So You'll Aim Toward the Sky" that made the album meritorious.

On Sumday, Grandaddy focus more on the "Crystal Lake" sound, so much so that it creates problems. Nearly every song on the album is identically paced and uses almost the precise same rhythm section throughout. Almost every song on the album could probably work as a standout track on a soundtrack or compilation, but in the context of an album placing all these similar songs together doesn't work. Songs such as "Now it's On," "I'm On Standby," and "O.K. With My Decay," while all excellent, lose most of their greatness due to the albums lack of variety.

Once again, Grandaddy display that they are one of the best bands currently recording. This time around, though, they just aren't quite as triumphant. Sumday was a daring attempt to make a pop album along the grain of The Flaming Lips' The Soft Bulletin; had they stuck to the art stuff, who knows, maybe the shimmering reviews would have helped the album sell. Don't be surprised if you read the headline "Art band makes good with pop album, sells crap and gets dropped like it" within a year. My money is on Lytle and Co. regrouping and returning with their ambitions back on high.    7/10

Written by G. William Locke