Grandaddy – “Just Like The Fambly Cat”
V2 RECORDS
What Grandaddy frontman Jason Lytle described as “erosion” when referring to the state of his band is only an afterthought considering the repair that comes in the form of the band’s fifth and final album, “Just Like the Fambly Cat.”
Though the band might have broken up for good, it stayed together for a final comeback, and a shimmering one at that.
“Just Like the Fambly Cat” has a fair number of energetic, up-tempo songs, such as “Elevate Myself” and “Disconnecty,” which drive the beat of the album. But it’s the more wandering, dream-pop tracks that carry it.
“Jeez Louise” kicks off the album with a blast of signature spacey noise-pop, then seamlessly segues into the yearning tune of “Summer...It’s Gone,” the feeling of which echoes in the somber shoegaze-fuzz “Guide Down Denied” and the resigned “This Is How It Always Starts.”
“The Animal World” soon stumbles along, providing what Grandaddy is loved for: uplifting vocal harmonies and trilling synths against a backdrop of a metered chord progression.
Grandaddy departs forcefully with the final “Shangri-La (Outro),” with a soprano vocalist supported by weeping string sections and keyboard arpeggios, ending the band’s last work on a note of despair, but a high one nonetheless.



