I had a post Christmas party hangover the other day and needed something to soothe my head on the bus trip. I eventually opted for The Sophtware Slump by Grandaddy, a record I hadn't listened to for a fair few months. Even in my delicate state, I was immediately reminded of just how incredible an album it is.
It's a melancholic album, a bit low-fi, and is absolutely brimming with ideas. It's these ideas that make it such an attractive prospect. Jed the Humanoid is a great example of this. This is a song about a family who build a robot who subsequently drinks himself to death, but not before leaving behind some poetry (also included as a song on the album). It sounds like a ridiculous idea, and in any other hands it wouldn't work. But far from being cloying and ham-fisted, it's real lump in the throat stuff.
It's not all a sentiment fest though. The distorted guitars are turned right up on Chartsengrafs and Broken Household Appliance National Forest (my favourite). The whole album's a treat from start to finish. I don't quite understand why this is the only Grandaddy record I own. I think I might just be scared the others won't match up. Even if they didn't though, nothing can detract from the perfection of The Sophtware Slump
Download: Grandaddy - The Sophtware Slump
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment