Sunday, October 2nd, 2005
Sunday Cleaning – Volume 8
 |
Grandaddy / Excerpts From The Diary Of Todd Zilla (V2)
Some two plus years have gone by since Modesto, California’s Grandaddy released Sumday – since then, there have been some rereleases of old material and one of those weird mixtape compilation CDs, but no properly new material. The Diary Of Todd Zilla rectifies that situation as a stopgap before the release of their next full-length next year. An EP clocking in at just over 30 minutes, Diary is a perfectly-sized portion for those who enjoy their Grandaddy in smaller doses, like myself. I’ve always had some difficulty maintaining interest through an entire album, so the seven tracks here don’t overstay their welcome. Anyone wondering if their sound has evolved at all while they’ve been away need not worry, this is the Grandaddy you know and love. There’s spacey, lightly stoned anthems about technology built on fuzzed guitars and thrift store keyboards, all seasoned with Jason Lyttle’s plaintive whine and served up in both speeds, fast and slow. It’s actually a little surprising how by-the-numbers the material is, you’d have thought that with the time off they’d be trying something new. Perhaps they’re saving the groundbreaking stuff for the album. |
 |
Silversun Pickups / Pikul (Dangerbird)
Silversun Pickups make their debut with the Pikul EP which marrys tense riff-rock with atmospheric production touches in a manner not unlike fellow SoCal-ers Autolux. Brian Aubert’s hoarse vocals skirt with grating but with further listens become easier to take. Bassist Nikki Monninger’s sweet harmonies help take the edge off and when she takes lead vocals, as she does on the delicate “Creation Lake”, it’s positively delightful. The songwriting is a little too much on the lumbering, dirgey side but lead single “Kissing Families” is quite solid and hopefully proves to be the rule and not the exception. Their debut album is due out next year. |
np – Elbow / Leaders Of The Free World
![[Valid RSS]](http://www.chromewaves.net/images/interface/valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed"){kind=small}
10/4/05 1:33 am
If you ever get a chance, make the effort to see Silversun Pickups live. The 90’s influence really comes through in concert with these guys channeling Sugar, MBV, Smashing Pumpkins and innumerable other pedal stomping shoegazers.