Jason Lytle – Dept. of Disappearance (2012)

When Grandaddy split up, I for one was a bit devastated, since it had been one of my favourite bands for years. Fairly soon after that happened, Jason Lytle returned with his solo material that was quite similar to Grandaddy. Fair enough, the first album, Yours Truly, The Commuter was a bit bland after all the Grandaddy albums with most of the band instruments missing. Dept. of Disappearance, however, has some songs on it that sound just as good as Grandaddy songs. I'm still quite glad that Grandaddy returned, because even though Lytle is pretty much the band, they still sound better under their original band title. I bought this album on CD as soon as I heard about it. After all, I'm such a fan that I would probably get anything made by Lytle as soon as it was out, no matter what it was.



The album starts really strong with the first couple of songs, but gets a bit more boring towards the end. This might also explain why the album got such mixed reviews. I think Lytle could've combined his two solo albums into one great album instead of releasing two so and so albums, but I guess there was quite a lot of time between them, so waiting for enough good material would've stalled the release of the album unnecessarily. Anyway, I'm glad Grandaddy is back together, because Last Place that came out last year is better than either of the solo albums.

The album starts with the title track Dept. of Disappearance, which has nice overdriven electric guitars and analog synthesisers which makes the song sound quite a lot like Grandaddy's golden era. Lytle really knows how to grow the song beautifully by adding new and more exciting sounds. Matterhorn is another brilliant song. It's a lot more melancholic and slower than the first song. It features those beautiful melodies we've gotten used to with Lytle's songwriting. Young Saints sounds a bit dry with frequent pauses in the synths. It gets better towards the end when the backing vocals come in, but largely, this song is a bit bland. Hangtown has nice sharp electric guitars, but the song itself is a bit boring. I'm mostly just waiting for something exciting to happen. Get Up and Go is a bit better as a song. It has a peppy upbeat melody and some nice synth sounds, although the high notes sound a bit cheesy. Last Problem of the Alps features some beautiful synthesiser work, but it's a bit too long for what it is and doesn't really start properly as a song. Willow Wand Willow Wand features some more excellent space synth sounds. It's one of the best songs of the latter half of the album. Somewhere There's a Someone reminds me of Mercury Rev quite a lot. It has authentic piano sounds, which are quite rare in Lytle's music. The song repeats itself a bit too much. Aptly named Chopin Drives Truck to the Dump is an intermission piece with Chopin's music along with some drumming. Your Final Setting Sun has quite a fast tempo and it's definitely one of the best songs on the album. The moody indie rock with space synths is exactly what I want from Lytle. The album ends with the strange song Gimme Click Gimme Grid. I would've maybe ended the album already with the previous song since this song is way too long and not nearly as good.

One thing you can always depend on is that Lytle's and Grandaddy's music videos are always top notch. The video for Final Setting Sun features a cult sect with a charismatic leader and children who are made to work for the cult. All the technology (including TVs with Lytle playing on them) are gathered into a tent while the pupils rub the leader's feet. The song ends with the mass suicide by poison. One boy survives and takes the holy book of the sect before running away.

Dept. of Disappearance is not by far as good as the Grandaddy albums, but there are still a few really good songs on it. I don't return to this album that often, but whenever I hear one of the good songs in my music library shuffle, I feel like I should listen to it more.

Listen to the album on Spotify.