**1/2 Grandaddy

THE SOPHOMORE SLUMP

(V2)

The title here may be Grandaddy's wise-ass attempt to deflate expectations for their second album, or to at least to acknowledge and diffuse the pressures that come with following up a debut that received some praise from the critics. But one can also sense a deeper, more serious sense of concern about the declining fortunes of indie rock in general. "I try to sing it funny like Beck/But it's bringing me down," warbles singer/guitarist Jason Lytle on "Jed's Other Poem." Yet instead of simulating the style of Beck's Midnight Vultures throwdown at the Apollo, Grandaddy take a page from Pavement and discover that space rock is the place. Pavement borrowed OK Computer overseer Nigel Godrich to produce their last album, but they didn't bother trying to sound like Radiohead. Even without Godrich, Grandaddy's cosmic makeover veers closer to Radiohead territory with its nervous, high-pitched vocals, alienated lyrics, and random synth doodles. The disc's opener, "He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot," is a lamentation about a space oddity named "2000 Man." The creaky vocals and piano hymnals of tracks like "Jed the Humanoid" and "Underneath the Weeping Willow" (the latter features diabolical piano tinkles) recall the laconic, pump-organ balladry of Neil Young and country psychedelicists Sparklehorse.

-- Patrick Bryant