GRANDADDY
Excerpts from the Diary of Todd Zilla
V2
· One heck of a preview.
Completed during sessions for Grandaddy’s upcoming fourth full-length (heralded by Jason Lytle’s surprise decision to shave off his ubiquitous beard), Excerpts from the Diary of Todd Zilla takes a glance back at the group’s earliest flirtations with synth-driven space rock and self-made pop-scapes.
More of a lost page from the Under the Western Freeway songbook than what one would expect in the wake of Sumday’s odes to disappointments (although "At My Post" is indeed a close cousin to that album’s tales of robots going through the motions), Todd Zilla comes off as a strong collection of B-sides and also-rans. Composed under Lytle’s growing discontent with life in Modesto, California, "A Valley Son (Sparing)" and "Fuck the Valley Fudge" long for somewhere new to live, untouched by modern life, a non-existent No Logo utopia, free from mini-malls and ATMs.
Recorded in Lytle’s bedroom (the rest of the house is set up to capture the adjacent album, a promised sonic epic), Todd Zilla wanders as much as such a setup would imply. If these are the cast-offs, Todd Zilla’s beautiful, unfocused mess bodes well for what’s to come.
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