Grant Lee Buffalo - Jubilee

This blog has been on air for four months. And I'm ashamed/embarrassed/appalled that it's taken this long to include a post featuring the talents of the mighty Grant Lee Phillips. The tag of genius is bandied around too often these days, but it's a tag that fits well upon Phillips' head.

Phillips' now sadly defunct band, Grant Lee Buffalo, occupied a similar folk/country/rock territory to Wilco. But apart from the obvious similarity that both bands were/are led by vocalists/guitarists/songwriters, there are three areas where I feel GLB come out on top. First, Phillips is a better vocalist that Jeff Tweedy, with a voice capable of ranging from rough and guttural to soulful falsetto. Second, GLB had a greater musical range, taking in pop, soul, and jazz. Last, GLB were not afraid to rock out!

GLB released four albums in their lifetime. The first two albums, Fuzzy and Mighty Joe Moon are both awesome, with numerous high points (Jupiter And Teardrop, Stars 'N' Stripes, Dixie Drug Store, Mockingbirds, Mighty Joe Moon, etc...). However, the third album, Copperopolis, is a lackluster affair - but it's hard to put a finger on the problem.

The fourth album, and subject of this here post, Jubilee, was a huge return to form. Although the high points are probably not as high as those from Fuzzy and Mighty Joe Moon, Jubilee is a stronger and more consistent album overall, with 14 uniformly strong songs. Further, Jubilee has much more varied instrumentation than the early albums, and has a fuller production with much greater depth - it was the first album produced by an outside producer, after the departure of bassist Paul Kimble who produced the first three albums

The album kicks off with the rocking APB (i.e. all points bulletin), featuring some great falsetto vocals in the chorus (man, those falsetto vocals really do it for me!). Second track Seconds (geddit?!) is a lighter affair, featuring acoustic guitar, subtle drumming and more great falsetto vocals, with a chorus revolving an irresistible bass hook. Change your tune is classic pop rock, and just so damn perfect it sends shivers down my spine just thinking (or writing) about it.

Testimony and Truly Truly both use the old quiet-loud-quiet dynamics mandatory for any self respecting Nirvana-influenced 90s band. The former revolves around a gret bass hook in the verses. The latter features acoustic guitar in verses, with the beat unexpectedly dropping out immediately before the chorus. Superslomotion is mid tempo and more subdued, slowly building into a chorus featuring synth and arpeggio guitar and those glorious falsetto vocals. Fine how'd ya do uses the quiet-loud-quiet dynamics, starting with a marching band beat and vocals sung over pump organ, slowly winding up the tension before an impressively clunky guitar solo.  

The next three tracks all have a country feel. Come to mama, she say features acoustic guitar, subtle percussion, and slide guitar. Eight mile road features organ, pedal steel in the chorus, with quiet-loud-quiet dynamics, while Everybody needs a little sanctuary features banjo.

Crooked Dice rocks with an infectious groove. Jubilee is a rock/big band hybrid, with great Brian May approved double tracked lead guitar, and lots of falsetto la la las. The Shallow End provides a subtle and atmospheric end to the album, based around acoustic guitar, glockenspiel and theremin.

Grant Lee Buffalo - 1998 - Jubilee

1. APB
2. Seconds
3. Change your tune
4. Testimony
5. Truly Truly
6. Superslomotion
7. Fine how'd ya do
8. Come to mama, she say
9. 8 mile road
10. Everybody needs a little sanctuary
11. My My My
12. Crooked Dice
13. Jubilee
14. The Shallow End

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