SXSW Friday Record Reviews

Since its 1997 debut, Grandaddy's gotten comfortable retelling rock in a postapocalyptic manner in which guitars are the last of the machines. Two decades later, the California fivepiece sounds more relevant than ever. Self-aware and refined, fifth album Last Place – the first in 11 years – is astonishingly solid. Production help from Danger Mouse gives a kick to Grandaddy's more meandering tendencies on "This Is the Part" and "The Boat Is in the Barn." "I Don't Wanna Live Here Anymore" takes residence in your ear canal where all of the band's original compositions reside. And, for the dedicated fans, there's an entrancing ballad continuing the saga of "Jed the 4th." Correct, that same humanoid who drank himself to death on The Sophtware Slump. (Fri. 17, Stubb's, 12:30am)