I received an email recently from an Irish fellow now residing in Japan with a record label by the name of Transduction Records. He has a new 2LP coming out which he believed I would be interested in, given the bands and music I have given props to over the years, and given the band's association to the SST story (it's loose, but it's there). He sent me a link, but told me the 2LP package was something to behold and would give me a greater sense of what it was I was consuming. I'm never one to say no to a freebie, so I said, sure, send one over.
That 2LP set is the latest - their 12th album, by my count - album by Missouri's GRANDPA's GHOST, The Carnage Queen. They've been releasing material since 1996, and yet I'd never heard of them until 2 weeks ago. They released four full-lengthers on the Upland label in the early '00s - Upland being the imprint owned & operated by Joe Carducci and Bill Stevenson (if you need to ask, don't bother) - and this is their first recording in a decade. The package is indeed nice, and this epic effort, which by my count is around the 80+ minute mark, will take one some time to fully comprehend. I've been perusing the lengthy press kit, and it makes for a great read in its own right, and there are two peculiar aspects to that remark: firstly, the press kit stretches itself over 6 pages, and I've always held the golden rule that such a promotional vehicle should never extend over more than a single page (I should know: I've written hundreds of the things. It should simply state: who the artist is, what they sound like, and why anyone should buy it); and secondly, it's interesting! There's a page-long rundown from Carducci himself, rave reviews from Byron Coley, references to Souled American, Meat Puppets and Neil Young & Crazy Horse. Sometimes great bands simply escape your gaze.
Those references aren't wrong, and Carducci's statement that the band's earlier comparisons to the likes of Wilco/Uncle Tupelo/Son Volt et al - all pleasant but utterly bland Americana outfits who push no boundaries - did the band no justice (nor was it accurate), and indeed they remain, as he notes, musical heirs to the likes of Neil Young and Crazy Horse and the deconstructed, falling-apart aesthetics of Souled American more than anything else. This is all true. What GG remind me of mostly is a whole lotta bands I did used to listen to in the early '90s whom I still have a sentimental attchment to, even if I don't spin their wares like I used to. I'm thinking of Ajax-catalogue regulars (one can't underestimate its importance, so I won't), greats such as Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, Trumans Water, The Grifters, Royal Trux, Gastr del Sol and I'd even have to throw in some very early Pavement in there, too, as well as first-LP Meat Puppets. In that sense, you could say this is a musical throwback, but that's merely my interpretation of its sounds. Grandpa's Ghost play expansive de/reconstructed roots music for the 21st century with unpredictable, non-obvious songcraft. I'm not sure who is really going to care that this 2LP set exists, as I have acknowledged my prior ignorance of them, but it seems that they have the right fans as it is, and since you've come this far, you really should check them out, as smart people require good music in their lives. This would've found a great home on SST in 1985 or Drag City in 1998, but since I'm always on the lookout for great recordings made in the here and now - well, this is one of them.
There is eff-all presence of the band on YouTube, certainly not from recent years, but this one from eons ago may give you a whiff of what they do.
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