Album Review: Jason Lytle - Dept. Of Disappearance

When indie-pop heroes Grandaddy called it a day some years ago, the hearts of geeky music lovers across the globe bled profusely. Where else would they get their fix of synthesised, fuzzed-out rock that concurrently broke their souls but lifted their spirits? In truth, of course, as frontman Jason Lytle embarked on a solo career, it became obvious that idiosyncratic style wasn't going anywhere. And so, with Dept. Of Disappearance, there really are no prizes for guessing what's to come; the only question is whether or not, after all these years, Lytle still has what it takes to arrest your spirit so effectively.

He certainly makes a pretty good fist of it on Matterhorn, a rather dreamy, spacey number with striking melodies that waft, rise and fall repeatedly. There's comfort to be found in the familiarity of Lytle's vocals, too, with those strongly-enunciated r's and brittleness at anything attempted a fraction outside his range. Hangtown is reassuringly languid and pleasant, but follower Get Up And Go, with its opening line “Get up and go you can do it/Everything's gonna be alright”, is about the least-motivating song you'll ever hear. Where Lytle's knockout blow sits is in plaintive love songs like the simply beautiful Somewhere There's A Someone, which relies solely on his fantastic ear for melodies that build to jubilant choruses.

At record's end, though, the big question mark hangs not over Lytle's skill, but over his relevance. Grandaddy hit a soft spot in a lot of people at just the right time and the band's value now is mostly nostalgic; sadly, Lytle's solo work just doesn't stick.