dredg - The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion

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You know what? I just give up with this band. Don't get me wrong their music is outstanding but at this point figuring out what the hell they are trying to convey in the lyrics is just totally beyond me. Yes, I know they essentially have a cheat sheet that tells you what each song means and how it correlates to the whole of the record but in the past it was at least hinted at in the songs or titles. Maybe I'm just getting dumber or not looking into things as much as I used to but I just don't get this album like I did, say, El Cielo. Man, was that an amazing album or what? Well guess what? This is no El Cielo but it does come closer to recapturing what that album was than the more commercialized Catch Without Arms. If you listen to this album and think it was inspired as "the letter to the 6 billionth person on the planet" please raise your hands. I won't expect to see any in the air.

You know what else annoys me? Look at the album cover. THAT IS NOT A FUCKING PARROT! Maybe that is the delusion? I don't know. Besides, the bird of choice for these guys has always been a Penguin so what gives?

This album is somewhat segmented with little interlude tracks called "Stamp of Origins" much like the "Brushstroke" tracks from El Cielo and the "Movement" tracks from Leitmotif. I will call them what they are in this case; fillers. That's right dredg, these are nothing but fillers, except maybe the last song on the album. That's more of an outro. In my opinion they are kind of unnecessary and don't add much to the album except get in the way. There's 18 tracks on this album but if you eliminate the Stamp of Origins and the 4 very short instrumentals you're left with 10 songs. Filler indeed.

The music itself is good, but they really don't branch out as much as they did. Yes, it sounds much different from the last album but there's something missing here. They capture that extra somehting a few times but never sustain it. I will probably come off overly critical but I really do like the album alot. Just the perils of having a strong lineage to live up to and higher expectations it brings.

Another thing is lead singer Gavin Hayes. Excellent vocalist, one of my favorites, but his vocal melodies are becomming seriously predictable. Only a few times does he do something I didn't expect of him. he used to mix it up alot but now it seems like he has his own vocal framework that is the same for every single song. I don't expect him to start screaming like he did on their early EP's, just something where you don't automatically know how he's going to end each line or chorus.

Alright, time to pull these songs off the bottom of the sea and go through it stone by stone.

Pariah - Starts out with some kids doing what sounds like a terrible slow skat over some a pretty sick bassline that I totally expect from Drew Roulette and then a pretty sweet groove kicks in and goes into a rather interesting verse which totally contradicts everything I've said in the preceeding paragraphs. But the chorus totally comes to my rescue and there's some classic Hayes vocalisms. The bridge is pretty awesome too and it comes back to the end with the kids again.

Drunk Slide - This is just a neat little instrumental.

The first non-dredg related google image when "Drunk Slide" was searched.

Ireland - After wracking my brain for hours trying to figure out the meaning to these freaking songs the obvious slips by me. "Drunk Slide" and the next song is "Ireland." Come on! How does one miss an obvious segue like that!? Isn't that like the perfect set up? Bravo, dredg. Only one phrase comes to mind here:

In all seriousness, this song just seems lost. It doesn't belong on this album. It belongs on with it's overly commercialized siblings on Catch Without Arms. Hell, this song has been played live so long it might have been a damn outtake from that album. On top of that, Ireland? Really? You guys draw enough comparisons to U2 do you really need this one hanging over your head too?

Stamp Of Origin: Pessimistic - A Wurlitzer and a little bit of vocals. That's the entirity of this song. All 50 seconds worth.

Lightswitch - Now this is something a little new for dredg musically. The guitars have a dated sound. For example, when I hear the opening riff  "Don't Fear The Reaper" pops into my head. It's the same guitar tone. The pre-choruses slow to a near stop underneath Hayes' vocals and then pick up when the actual chorus comes in. The lyrics are pretty freaking great as well. All I could get was a person is a light switch and that means they are metaphors for a whole bunch of other things as well. Sounds more like a Swiss Army Knife instead of a light switch.

Gathering Pebbles - No, this is not Barney Rubble's epic quest to steal cereal(or kidnap a child) from Fred. This is your standard dredg song in many ways. Actually would fit well on any of their other albums. It's a pretty varied song even if Hayes is boring as boring can be on the track and he pretty much just chants for the last 2 minutes of the track saying nothing in particular.

Information - Lets not beat around the bush here. This song sounds like a U2 knock-off. Well, if U2's drummer could play piano and drums at the same time. Dino Campanella is the man. This is really what U2 would sound like if they had a good singer. Don't tell Bono that though. He could never come to grips with being #2. One annoying thing about this song is the radio cut edits out the bridge which is essentially the most awesome part.

Stamp Of Origin: Ocean Meets Bay - Oh joy. Another Stamp of Origin. 50 more seconds of filler.

Saviour - There's some cool synth bass on this track but that's essentially the only cool thing on it. I swear Hayes uses the same exact vocal pattern on this song that he used on "Light Switch." Just not a good song.

R U O K? - Another little instrumental with what sounds like a robot saying "Are. You. O-Kay" Sorry, "R. U. O. K." Damnit, dredg. This is a serious album don't write song titles like you're sending a damn text message or making a tweet.

I Don't Know - This is a real head nodder. The bass and guitar are stark contrast but work together awesomely but there's a catch. Damnit, Gavin. THAT KID IS ON THE ESCALATOR AGAIN! I mean, he used that same damn vocal pattern again! Well, just on the first verse. The rest of it he behaves and is pretty awesome and I love vocals on the chorus. One of my favorites on the album for sure. Also, Dino adds a bunch of sweet fills at the end.

Mourning The Morning - Oh Mark Engles...He clearly has a fascination with the Weather Channel. His guitar line sounds like one of the stock songs that are on during the local weather segments. I just have a hard time getting over the guitar riff in this song. It's not that anything else in the song is that amazing anyway.

Stamp Of Origin: Take a Look Around - Organ and vocals. 58 seconds wasted. This is actually one of the better Stamp of Origins though.

Long Days And Vague Clues - This is a crazy orchestral piece. I don't know how it fits on the album but it's actually a pretty badass little instrumental.

Cartoon Showroom - It's all piano and acoustic guitar. It's a nice song and probably Gavin's strongest vocal performance on the album.

Quotes - The longest track on the album and almost my personal favorite. It reminds me a bit of "Not That Simple" off of Catch Without Arms especially when the bridge comes in and that classic Mark Engles guitar riff comes in. His signature move that's appeared on every single dredg album that he clearly stole, but perfected, from The Edge. Then the end has this weird bouncy bassline and drum beat that accompany some weird backround music. I think I went into this album expected every song to be of this ilk.

Down To The Cellar - Another instrumental that is pretty good and chock full of dredg-ness.

Stamp Of Origin - Horizon - Piano, vocals, and some slide guitar lead this album out on the image of looking across the ocean or something of that nature.

*Gazes out at the ocean*

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