dredg Chuckles & Mr. Squeezy |
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 | Tracklist:
1. Another Tribe
2. Upon Returning
3. The Tent
4. Somebody Is Laughing
5. Down Without A Fight
6. The Ornament
7. The Thought Of Losing You
8. Kalathat
9. Sun Goes Down
10. Where I'll End Up
11. Before It Began
Release Date: 04/29/2011 | |
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On 16 Lists
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| Summary: Serving as the poster-child for streaming an album prior to purchase. |
People have never been able to agree whether people agreed about dredg. Leitmotif came first, but it was 2002's El Cielo which formed the canyon, harbouring an ominous atmosphere which had the cults clamouring for their classic status labels even before anybody had realised how oddly elusive the songwriting was. Then Catch Without Arms screwed up the dynamic with simplified structures and sparkling choruses and it was all of a sudden impossible to say with any conviction whether El Cielo had been a point of departure or an anomaly or any part of a recognisable trend at all. Pariah was a creeper of a record which did absolutely nothing to answer the riddle and so people continued to ask: who actually are dredg?
Chuckles & Mr. Squeezy was supposed to be the chapter that finally revealed whether dredg were in the midst of penning a thriller or a comedy, where the key elements of their identity were unveiled. Which is not to say it was destined to be a carbon-copy of either Catch Without Arms or El Cielo; the band have proven with ample tenacity that they're not exactly prone to sitting still. They prove that again here. But the trouble is that Chuckles doesn't evoke a response similar to anything else in the band's back catalogue in terms of amplitude. No, the overwhelming response to the musical aesthetic of Chuckles is as underwhelming as they come:
Eh?
It's actually bewildering. Chuckles is about minimalism, which the band have always been good at; it's about weird pop hooks, which have always appeared in one form or another; it's about uncomfortable lyricism, another endearing component part of everything from Leitmotif through to Pariah. But it's fundamentally about re-defining these terms: minimalist as empty; weird as out-of-place; uncomfortable as awkward. All of this might seem like a glorious artistic statement were the things that tied them together not so goddamn tepid. But drummer Dino Campanella has been by-and-large replaced by a machine. Guitar crescendos have been eschewed in favour of taps and clicks. And none of theses songs bubble with any sort of intensity at all; listening to Chuckles & Mr. Squeezy is at most junctures an exercise in remaining focussed.
The twenty-second passage of almost dead air at the start of undeniable stand-out (not exactly the award of the millennium) 'The Ornament' is the sort of thing you could easily see being documented as an artistic stroke of genius on an album more vital, more invigorated than this. And don't get me wrong here, it's not about the tempo of these songs; dredg have always done melancholy well, and sadness better. But the lethargy within these tracks is not a calculated one, it is a lazy one, certainly in effect, if not in process. The motifs are banal and stagnant; the lyrics are five or six notches beneath unassuming to the point that they mean nothing at all. Even vocalist Gavin Hayes doesn't sound any more like he knows why he's carrying that trademark downbeat hum of his.
The temptation is to pass off Chuckles & Mr. Squeezy as the anomaly, the joker in the pack which doesn't fit alongside the rest of the band's work, but by now, surely the time has come to admit that, whichever dredg album you hold aloft as their crowning achievement, and whatever trajectory you think they have followed during their time as a band, there's just a chance it's never been building to anything at all. Chuckles & Mr. Squeezy is a phenomenally uninteresting affair from start to finish, not just musically, but also as a point of discussion in the context of dredg's canon. Neither thriller nor comedy, Chuckles is entirely akin to those straight-to-DVD 'drama' movies with little to no drama whatsoever.
But hey. Maybe, at least, dredg fans can finally agree on something: Chuckles & Mr Squeezy sucks. It really does.
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| Recent reviews by this author | | | |
Album Rating: 1.5
Ouch. My 1.5s are usually at least funny.
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if you don't like it it's probably good
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Probably one of the best negative reviews I've read in a while, pos'd
Digging: - Digging: -
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good review though
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Listened to the first song and I actually kinda liked it but beyond that it is a horrible album. Great review as usual Knott
Digging: Rites of Thy Degringolade - Totalitys Commad
| | | Album Rating: 1.5
Hahaha. Thanks guys.
Sonic, I think the bar chart is evidence enough that I'm not alone in this opinion.
| | | Album Rating: 1.5
great review
Digging: Meshuggah - Koloss | | |
yeah knott I'm just messin you know I never even listened to this group
| | | Album Rating: 1.5
Not about to recommend them to you either haha.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
yeah, seems to be pretty awful, but will probably give a listen still
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
Lazy and uninteresting is just about right. Listening to this brought all sorts of good dredg song flooding into my brain though
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gorgeous review. pos.
Digging: Dionaea - Grounds Digging: Dionaea - Grounds
| | | Album Rating: 1
Very good review.
"Chuckles is about minimalism.... minimalist as empty"
^ this. There is nothing in this album.
Digging: CunninLynguists - Oneirology | | |
good review, though i don't agree with your rating...
i actually think i might like this album, not as much as the other dredg albums, but for some reason i can't hate it as much as most do...haven't put my finger on why though
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Awesome review
Digging: Joy Division - Closer Digging: Joy Division - Closer
| | | Album Rating: 1.5 | Sound Off
if you don't like it it's probably good
No that's Channing. Great review Knott!
Digging: Walknut - Graveforests And Their Shadows Digging: Walknut - Graveforests And Their Shadows | | | Album Rating: 2
I wouldn't say this is that bad, but still pretty poor. Review is right on point though. *goes to listen to Leitmotif*.
Digging: Trombone Shorty - For True Digging: Trombone Shorty - For True | | |
holy shit, that was an amazing review
Digging: Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music Digging: Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
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really like this review Knott.
Digging: Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music Digging: Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
| | | Album Rating: 2
yeah you did a really good job of putting into words what a lot of us were thinking but couldn't
really articulate beyond "this album blows". 5-star review, chap
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