Designing your CD around an essay about “the six billionth person on Earth” by controversial author Salman Rushdie is probably not the best way to get your music noticed, but for California quartet Dredg, it’s all in a day’s work.
“The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion” is the fourth album by a band that yet to take the easy road, preferring to walk the fine line between art and accessible rock music. Most of the music on “The Pariah” is generally upbeat in an indie-rock sort of way, but thanks to abundant time signature changes and detailed production, there’s also a dark undercurrent that pulls you in and demands your attention. Each song is painstakingly rendered and full of twists and turns that could only be called unexpected. Once again, drummer Dino Campanella is one of the highlights on a Dredg recording. His creative drum patterns and fills are always interesting and add some surprising flourishes to songs like “Drunk Side” and “Ireland.”
Six of the CD’s tracks clock in at less than two minutes and are best described as interludes between the more substantial numbers. Four of the six even share the title “Stamp of Origin” and swing from moody instrumentals to effects-laden intermissions. “Mourning This Morning” is the only track to sound even remotely commercial, with a 4/4 backbeat that’s almost ready for the dance floor. The song certainly doesn’t kill the mood, but it does take the story in a whole other direction.
“Down to the Cellar” wraps up the album with a swirling guitar coda reminiscent of The Beatles’ “I Want You (She’s So Heavy),”and the only thing left is the eerie piano fadeout and spacey vocals on “Horizons.”
With the recent success of artists like Mastodon, The Mars Volta and Muse, the scene is ripe for intelligent bands like Dredg to make a statement and still avoid the standard verse-chorus trap. “The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion” will probably get less attention than it deserves, but perhaps the tide is finally changing.
Rating: W W W W
| Tweet | Follow @wkdr |
|
|
