Usually this feature is only for the bands that are relatively new, kick-arse and are undiscovered. Unfortunately though, they tend to get ignored by everyone in the media because their ears are either clogged up with the toss that’s played on commercial radio/music TV or they're scared of something exciting and different.
This week’s trawl is a very simple way of showing of what happens when nothing new and different is allowed to get to us. Basically, it results in quality acts splitting up because, like you and us, they need to make a living to support their families with. Sadly this happened to the absolutely incredible but now defunct Grandaddy.
"Grandaddy? Who the fuck are Grandaddy?" some of you might ask Well, they were a five-piece act from California who produced some extremely catchy tunes that mixed the unlikely together. Throughout their four-album stint, we’ve been exposed to country, folk, indie, rock and electronics. Sometimes they were blended together to produce tasty treats for your ears or sometimes just done on their own, which equally rocked. Sadly Grandaddy never rocketed to the giant fame they deserved. But, ironically, after Grandaddy split in early 2006 one of their tracks was used in an advert that a lot of people would have seen across the world. The track in question is The Nature Anthem and it was used on the Coca Cola advert where almost cute-looking tins of animated sugared water rolled up and down hills and eventually in to a fridge. The song had the catchiest of lyrics with:
“I’m gonna walk up the side of the mountain, I’m gonna walk down the other side of the mountain. I’m gonna swim in the rivers and lie in the sun, gonna try to be nice to everyone”
These lyrics were sung under the lightest of guitars playing in the background. It was repeated for three-and-a-half minutes but was so good that it was played all the time on the hecklerspray hangout record player. The song was only released as a limited promo to promote a compilation album of Grandaddy’s favourite tracks called Below The Radio.
Other tracks are just as catchy. Elevate Myself is equally as catchy and really should have done better in the charts. But oh no! It wasn't like the current crop of identical indie pap like The Kooks, so it was bound to fail.
Grandaddy also introduced us to some band called Snow Patrol to. On their last UK tour (because they didn’t bother touring the last album – Just Like The Fambly Cat) they had them supporting. And as we all know, Snow Patrol went on to greater things, so at least someone got somewhere.
Basically kids, this is our mini-rant on class bands going down the shitter because people aren’t aware of pure class. Go buy their last album – HMV has it for a fiver (at least in our branch) so go get! If you don’t like it use it as a coffee coaster – it’s the same price as most of the dodgy CDs that One-Toothed Dave from down the boozer sells.
Normal service will be back next week. Just getting something off our hairy chests. Amazing how one of the albums of the year didn’t get very far.