frowns abound; grandaddy call it quits

Amy Phillips of PitchorkMedia.com reports:

After almost a decade and a half of scruffy indie rock and sprawling space-pop, the California band Grandaddy are headed for the great big rock and roll nursing home in the sky. In an interview with Pitchfork yesterday, frontman Jason Lytle revealed that Just Like the Fambly Cat, due out May 9 on V2, will be the last Grandaddy album, and that the band has no plans to tour.

"We've seen an erosion happening," Lytle said. "I use the word 'erosion' in the most natural way I possibly can. It's not entirely such a bad thing. We have just, throughout the years, always looked at every album coming out as 'Wow we've got another album, now what?' So that's still going on right now, it's just that it's a lot different. We're not jumping on that big rock n roll conveyor belt that happens when the album's done.

"Everybody has been set free to pursue whatever it is they want to pursue, whether it be amateur poker playing, or [becoming] veterinarians, or working in a hot dog stand."

While Lytle will continue making music, he has no plans to use the Grandaddy name for something it's not (see: INXS, Queen, the Doors, etc.) "I think myself and the rest of the band hold that [name] pretty sacred," he said. "It definitely won't be this random assembly of crap shot players. There are plenty of people who are capable of standing up there and executing the songs. But it wouldn't be comfortable for anyone."

He added, "For whoever gives a shit, they can rest assured that it's not necessarily a bad thing. It's no sadder than...I'm likening it to the natural crumbling of canyon walls. It can be sped up or done in by artificial forces. I just think we saw the opportunity to bring it to an end, to do it and still remain friends."

As for Lytle's next step, well, he's not so sure what that will be. "All I'm working on now is regaining a pure appreciation for just playing music, just sitting and playing music. It seems to have been attached to and saddled by a lot of stuff. It's getting fun again.

"I don't intend on ever stopping. I've actually tried to stop a bunch of times, but it's not really possible. Sometimes I hate it so much, because it's something that fatigues me. I'm going to do something, but I have no idea what."