Grandaddy - Excerpts From the Diary of Todd Zilla

Aren’t inside jokes annoying? (when you aren’t in on them of course.) Everyone around you chuckles, and all you can do is wonder what they hell is so funny. “What am I missing?” is all you can say as you scratch your head. You know that feeling, right? Well, it’s the same with some bands for me. With every release, Grandaddy gets mounds of praise, and I read on message board after message board about how great the band is, but all I can say is “What am I missing?” Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate this band, or this EP, but I just don’t understand why some people love them so much. The disc starts off with a decent little rocker called “Pull The Curtains,” but this is quickly followed by a bit of a bore with “At My Post,” a watered down imitation of the Flaming Lips. “A Valley Son (Sparing)” and “Cinderland” fail to garner any attention, leading into the albums strongest track, “Fuck The Valley Fudge.” Rounding out the release is a quite/loud rocker, “Florida,” in which the band does a decent enough Pixies imitation to get by, and “Goodbye,” a slow acoustic swan song. I give these guys credit for being talented and all, but they just fall a tad short of keeping my attention. Release after release, they put out songs that have potential but eventually leave me bored. Maybe someday someone will tell me what is so funny, but until then I will be scratching my head at mediocrity and wondering if I am just not in on the joke. [www.grandaddylandscape.com]