Grandaddy

Last Place

Jason Lytle finally gets the gang back together.

Just over a decade and two homely Jason Lytle solo albums since Grandaddy’s 2006 fire-sale ‘finale’ Just Like The Fambly Cat, and it’s straight back to business as usual. Not such a bad thing, but it highlights the fact that Lytle hasn’t come up with a different plan for Grandaddy in 20 years, the chanson accordion on That’s What You Get For Gettin’ Outta Bed notwithstanding. Man’s battle to both control and respect his environment, technology’s inevitable march and our obsession with consumerism are still major preoccupations, but gradually Lytle’s also giving himself over to evergreater human sentiment, which is ironic as Last Place’s synths sound more, well, synthetic than ever. Great to have back that little razor edge that Lytle loses when he steps away from his bandmates, but this might be the last time he gets away with it without a major rethink. Andy Fyfe