by LORRAINE CARPENTER

In David Letterman's heyday, an appearance on his show was a supercool cap feather for any band, offering both a commercial leg-up and a hit of hipster cred. But Modesto, California, quintet Grandaddy sound unfazed by their recent brush with Dave, which went "as well as Grandaddy on national TV can go," according to guitarist Jim Fairchild. You see, these sci-fi porch rockers have their hearts set on another avenue of TV land, one where they can mingle with giant birds and cookie-scarfin' monsters. No, not The View.

"One of our main goals right now is to get onto Sesame Street," says Fairchild, who's made his plea official and plans to pen a song specifically for their would-be cameo. And with Jason Lytle's velvety voice, the stargazing sway of his tunes and their quaint combinations of fuzzy guitars and pixie dust keys, what's not for tots to love?

"When we play our music for kids, they really get into it 'cause there's so much going on," enthuses Fairchild. "It's layered, it's dreamy and wondrous - kids love that shit."

They do, and Grandaddy's bound for glory with Grover and co as long as Lytle holds off on sulking over technological supremacy, human failure, fear of life and other depressing preoccupations. Lytle wallowed thusly through The Sophtware Slump, the band's 2000 breakthrough album that helped peel the Pavement-like skin of their early years and place them among the ranks of the Flaming Lips and Sparklehorse. On their latest LP, Sumday, Lytle treats the man-machine theme more lightly, whereas Fairchild's first-hand meeting with the mechaworld last May was a straight-up downer.

"It's a good thing that truck was going so fast," he says, "and that it missed my head." In the midst of Grandaddy's tour with Pete Yorn, Fairchild stumbled onto a Phoenix highway and under one of the tour's trucks. With his crushed shoulder in a sling, the guitarist was forced to sit out two Grandaddy shows.

"It was really weird to be there in the audience," he says. "It sucked, actually, but hell, I'm really lucky to be alive."

With Earlimart at Club Soda on August 8, 9PM, $17.50

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