Spacerock

A quintet from rural Modesto, California, Grandaddy (above) looks set to journey into the realms of spacerock. Their 1997 indie-label debut, Under The Western Freeway, got them signed to Richard Branson's V2 label. Grandaddy's latest album, The Sophtware Slump, sees them tickle the same spatial funny bones that Flaming Lips' Soft Bulletin and Mercury Rev's Deserters Songs have done. The band has been described as Eels fronted by either Beach Boys' Carl Wilson or Neil Young, but their mixture of charming US roots ballads is unique. Setting controls for the heart of a lone prairie moon, Grandaddy play Dublin's Temple Bar Music Centre today.