Jason Lytle

Yours Truly, The Commuter

BY Daniel SylvesterPublished May 21, 2009

Three years and ten days since the release of Grandaddy's final LP, Just Like the Fambly Cat, front-man Jason Lytle closes off a decade of organic/inorganic musings with his first solo LP. As reports arose that Fambly Cat was almost entirely conceived and recorded by Lytle, Grandaddy fans expected his solo material to follow the same recipe that made them an original voice in indie rock. What makes Yours Truly notable is just how homogeneous his songwriting remains. Lyle spends most of the LP perfecting his downtrodden robot persona, as songs like "Brand New Sun" and "Flying Thru Canyons" combine his trademark Brian Wilson, Surf's Up-era piano chording with sandy acoustic strumming and musty, forlorn melodies. While Yours Truly contains nothing as immediately feel-good as "The Crystal Lake" or "El-Caminos in the West," the fact that Lytle can avoid sounding completely spent gives hope that when Lytle sings on Here for Good, "I may be limping but I'm coming home," he really means it.
(ANTI- Records)

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