Dredg "Chuckles and Mr. Squeezy"

I, like 90% of the band's loyal fans, absolutely HATED this record after the initial spin.  The fan base had become used to some shifting in style over the four studio releases of the century's first decade, but this was just too much.  WTF was Dan the Automator of Gorillaz fame doing behind the production board?  A hip-hop knob-turner?  Oh, hell no, guys, come on!  The Gorillaz was the death of another great band, Blur.  I was not happy...

But I so love this band that I couldn't stop there and throw it all out the window.  I've actually paid MY OWN MONEY to see them live...twice!  I still say that "El Cielo" and "Catch Without Arms" are my favorite two records, though their album of 2009 (Pariah Parrot somethin') was the biggest sales and critics winner.  I should have been leery of the short span of approx. twenty months between records.  Dredg followers typically wait three years + for new music, so I can't say I was too eager for "Chuckles..." to replay...

But replay is what I do, and on spin two some of the hooks started peeking through and Gavin Hayes' vocals seem more prominent than usual, which is not a bad thing.  The guy has an incredible voice.  And Dredg fans know the lyrics aren't the "I love you, you love me, we love Oreos" kind of crap prevalent in domestic contemporary music.  I'll let you research a few of their prose on your own.  Prepare to be enlightened.  But I will link to their website and the current video for you.  Hit the play button on that baby and be sure to stay the entire four minutes.  If it's your first encounter with their visual sensibilities, then I would invite you to look for more if impressed.  These guys aren't just musicians, they are artists in a much bigger sense. 

By the time I've ended the third rotation, my hope was that the rest of their fans had offered second and third chances as well.  I must believe that an audience which "gets" this band has a maturity and understanding to appreciate the end product.  Those who leaned on the guitar as base are unhappy, I'm sure, as it has been relegated to intros and subtleties and keys and electronics dominate.  Prog rock before, lazy looped beats for this one.  Where previous albums were best consumed in their entirety, this one is better a bite or two at a time. 

Someone has asked me for a rating like other reviewers have, so I'll give this a 7 on a 10 scale.  I miss the power guitar and don't quite get the obvious push for credibility by using Dan A.  The final two songs of the album are so out of character for the band that I had to check to see if I had added somebody else to my CD to fill up space.  My vote for next single is "Somebody is Laughing", a slice of U2-ish pop if I ever heard it. 

I will go see them again when they tour.