copyright 2009, The Washington Post GRANT-LEE PHILLIPS 'Little Moon' Kindred spirits: R.E.M., Ryan Adams Most people don't remember, but back in the early '90s, Grant Lee Buffalo put in a bid to be the American Radiohead. The Los Angeles-based trio had what it took, too: the dense guitars, the brooding alt-rock ballads and the doting patronage of R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe. Sadly, it did not come to pass. Lead singer Grant-Lee Phillips has never let it get him down, though. Over the past decade, he has found his footing as a solo artist, and on his latest effort, 'Little Moon,' he's in a particularly upbeat mood. 'I'm gonna wake up with a smile / Open the shades / Let in the light,' he sings on 'Good Morning Happiness.' 'Little Moon's' 12 stripped-down folk-rock songs are preoccupied with slowing down, settling in and embracing domestic bliss. 'I got a little girl cutting tooth / My pretty wife is in the bed / Whether be making love or making peace / Don't want to live a life of dread,' he sings on 'It Ain't the Same Old Cold War Harry.' Phillips' voice, which can glide from a honey-sweet falsetto to a velvet David Bowie-esque croon, has always been a showstopper. Fifteen years ago, it could really slam those melancholy songs home. On 'Little Moon,' Phillips sounds a bit older and wearier, but a lot happier. 