Jason Lytle - Yours Truly, The Commuter
When Grandaddy disbanded a couple years back, I was pretty disappointed. I had only discovered them a few months before that and I wanted more. Their final album, Just Like The Fambly Cat, was ultimately a bit of a disappointment, though. Jason Lytle’s voice had become more affected, taking on a “precious” quality, and the songs lacked the punch that had drawn me to Grandaddy on Under The Western Freeway and The Sophtware Slump. Jason Lytle’s new solo album is a continuance of the style of Just Like The Fambly Cat, and though I would certainly count this as good music, I find it lackluster in certain ways.
This album has a very subdued tone. The drums and guitar tend to be washed out, so they don’t punctuate the songs too strongly. There are frequent light instrumental touches which certainly serve the songs, but also give them a gentle feeling. Nothing plays too loud or too long on this album. Even the song “This Song Is The Mute Button”, which begins with a ruckus which is cut off by the titular song, isn’t anywhere near offensive to the ears. It’s not so much a cacophony of noise at the start, as a bit of music which is at odds with the rest of the album. There are moments where a song will verge on rocking, like “Ghost Of My Old Dog”, but pull back at the very last moment. The album doesn’t really have an arc, so much as a linear path.
Like I said, though, this is good music. The title song and its followers “Brand New Sun”, and “Ghost Of My Old Dog” are high points. “It’s The Weekend” is the most energetic the album gets, but the emptiness of the lyrics undercut that somewhat. Don’t be surprised if it pops up on a teen TV drama soon. “Birds Encouraged Him” is also a really great song, but it is a major contributor to the album’s blissed-out tone.
It’s easy for the songs on the second half of the album to blend together. They have similar tones and melodies, and the last three songs seem to close out the album over and over again. This album sounds like it was created in a basement out in the middle of a prairie, which is exactly what happens to be the case. Jason Lytle has relocated from California to Montana and created this album all on his own. There’s a unity to the album that clearly stems from that, but it also feels a little overproduced, which is probably the result of needing to do so much layering of tracks.
This is an album to listen to while taking a road trip, or hanging out in the park on a sunny day. Don’t expect to be motivated toward anything monumental by it, but it can surely add some pleasantness to your life.
The iTunes version of the album has a bonus track, which I haven’t heard.
I would recommend this album.
Jason Lytle – Yours Truly, The Commuter on Amazon
I Am Lost (And the Moment Cannot Last) from jason lytle on Vimeo.
I didn’t know about this. Yay!