Grandaddy

US rock band oft-associated with the British music press' "new psychedelia" tag, along with bands such as Mercury Rev and Flaming Lips.

Fronted by the impressively bearded Jason Lytle, Grandaddy have released two very fine albums to date, 1998's "Under The Western Freeway" and the astonishing "The Sophtware Slump", whose widescreen atmospheres and gently orchestrated psychedelia led to the above comparisons with the Rev and the Lips. They have also released an interesting, if slightly more difficult, compilation of early EPs titled "The Broken Down Comforter Collection".

Superb five piece lo-fi, indie band from the relatively small town of Modesto, California.
Formed around 1993, the band comprises:

• Jason Lytle - Vocals, Guitar, Keyboard, Song Writer and Producer (and former pro-skateboarder)
• Kevin Garcia - Bass Guitar, Vocals
• Aaron Burtch - Drums

This is the original line-up, then joined in 1995 by:

• Tim Dryden - Keyboard
• Jim Fairchild - Guitar

Well known to always have at least three members of the band sporting a beard, Grandaddy primarily seem to produce songs with a theme of technology meeting nature. Titles like Broken Household Appliance National Forest say it all, as well as the video backdrop you'll see at their gigs.

To date, their major releases have been:

• A Pretty Mess By This One Band  (EP) - 1996
• Under The Western Freeway  (Album) - 1997
• The Broken Down Comforter Collection  (EP) - 1999
• Signal To Snow Ratio  (EP) - 1999
• The Sophtware Slump  (Album) - 2000
  (with excellently noded lyrics, thanks to ruxxell and GangstaFeelsGood)
  {well not anymore, due to all this © malarkey, hmmph}
• Sumday  (Album) - 2003

The band tour regularly which is something I am fortunate to have experienced several times so far..
More details of their tours; a full discography; merchandise as well as a forum can be found on their (recently redesigned) web site www.grandaddylandscape.com which is maintained by the band themselves.

Latest news as of the end of 2003 is that there have been a relatively large number of singles released from Sumday.. due to Grandaddy's increasingly wider popularity, or is it because V2 want more cash?
Anyway, the band themselves have just finished a five-week Winter tour, and will most likely be resting for some time considering their extensive tour schedule this year.

Final update: The band split up in January 2006 and released their final album Just Like the Fambly Cat in May of that year. No tour followed.

"Good Luck"