The return of Jason Lytle's plucky underdogs after 11 years away is cause for celebration, and Last Place serves as a victory lap of sorts: it's reassuringly familiar, if disappointingly risk-free.

The multipart harmonies, slow-chugging guitars and soaring choruses on Way We Won't and Brush with the Wild recall the Californian quintet's early noughties heyday, and Lytle's fragile falsetto still hints at deep wells of pent-up melancholy (check out the drop-dead gorgeous closer, Songbird Son).

As the album progresses, the plaintive melodies and arrangements cry out for some trademark Grandaddy weirdness. Still, there's lots to admire in a band healing old wounds and reeling back the years with a minimum of fuss. grandaddymusic.com