In which I struggle with understanding Grandaddy (but not mine)

I'm listening to the new Grandaddy album, which, according to rumor, is their last one. And thus ends the career of a band I could never figure out. Seriously, this band baffles me. Stray Dog and the Chocolate Shake is an incredible song (off of Sumday). It manages to invoke memories of 1980s Utah, when Orem/Provo was all dry and dusty as the old orchards were being removed for new housing, and University Parkway had one light down at Will's Pit Stop. There's a certain dusty feeling from that era of hot hot summers and dirt and trips to BYU in the evening to see where my dad was working and everything seemed timeless. It's an interesting feeling. We used to have huge dirt storms and the four-wheelers in the mountains sounded like bumblebees to me and I would hide in my mom's garden from them. This is what I think about whenever I hear Stray Dog and the Chocolate Shake. I've even been able to use the predominate synth line from the song in a conversation describing a trip from Seattle to San Francisco. In other words, yes, Stray Dog is a top ten song from 2003. It also sums up the best of Grandaddy. It was real life infused with technology but it wasn't like the world was drastically changed. There still is a high school football coach, burned out kids, stray dogs. It just so happens that there are robots working in the dark because the supervisor guy turns out the factory lights. At their worst, Grandaddy just kinda fumbled around with weird songs like Saddest Vacant Lot in all the World and Yeah is What we Had. Sometimes the songs sounded half-baked. So, sometimes they resonated with me and other times they meant nothing. Absolutely nothing. And their performance on KCRW is the most distant performance I've ever heard. I mean, they really didn't interact with Nic Harcourt. It's like they were reading from a script. It was almost as disappointing as the Arcade Fire's performance on that show (was that really singing? Honestly?)
I'm trying to put together a compilation of new good stuff for my brother who just got back from France and my sister who complains about country music in Kansas City. It's hard for me to cobble together some alt-country stuff for her. Maybe I should just give her Summerteeth and say "This is the great American album. It represents middle American and you" and be done with it. Yes, that will do. And then I'll throw on a couple cuts of the Old 97's.
I wish there was something funny or controversial to write about, but there really isn't. I finished seven things in a week. OK, so I could write about immigration, but I'll save that for another post