After becoming frustrated with the Canadian music industry, Gordie Johnson dissolved his successful band
Big Sugar and made the move from Toronto to Austin, TX. His claim was to take up a new life as a rancher, but fans knew the man couldn't deny the fire inside for long and weren't the least bit surprised when his new project,
Grady, rose like a butt-kicking phoenix from the ashes. Their debut album,
Y.U. So Shady?, takes the six-string twang of
Big Sugar and adds a fierce Texas attitude, fulfilling Johnson's vision of "
Motörhead backing up
John Lee Hooker." The outlaw mayhem of
Hank Williams III's Assjack project or
Popa Chubby at his most punkish are also close to the
Grady sound, but Johnson is more attracted to hooks than any of the above and skillful at shoehorning them into the breakneck-speed rockers. Stompers like "Joe Louis" and "Tired All the Time" round out the album with their Southern-fried vision of stoner metal, while the greasy "Just About Sunrise" proves the band can take it slow and nail that hazy, summer-day feeling.
Big Sugar fans who felt the band never really let loose will be completely satisfied and turning on their
Nashville Pussy,
Masters of Reality, or
ZZ Top-loving buddies in no time. [In 2008, four years after its original release, the Alternative Tentacles label reissued the album with a reorganized track list and two bonus tracks.] ~ David Jeffries