Review Summary: The album title is Chuckles & Mr. Squeezy. What more should be said?
The first time I heard El Cielo, I was blown away by it’s dreamy atmosphere and it’s compelling concept. Once the experience was over, I looked forward to listening to whatever else the band had to offer. After all, one would think that a band that could create such a masterpiece like El Cielo could never disappoint. Sadly, Dredg not only put that thought to rest, but they literally tortured that thought until it died. Rest assured, once this album starts, you will be praying for it to end.
It is undeniably welcome for a band to experiment with their sound and evolve into something different. Many bands have done it to a certain degree of success. Radiohead did it. Deftones did it. Linkin Park did it. Why not Dredg?
It’s safe to say that those bands did something right when they experimented. They became different bands, but they stayed true to themselves and you were still able to call them by their names. When Dredg did this, they left every ounce of their passion at home and along with their musical abilities. Many of the tracks on the laughably named Chuckles and Mr. Squeezy contain strange hip hop beats that simply do not work. Take the opening track for example. “Another Tribe” has a clapping drum beat accompanying Gavin’s dreamy voice that is either hard or nearly impossible to digest depending on the type of person you are. The hip hop beats are a recurring theme on Chuckles and there is absolutely no attempt at any complex times signatures and rhythms.
All of their fantastic song writing talent was completely thrown out of the car window on the way to the studio too. Gone are the complex lyrics that actually managed to make you think. Instead we got bland lyrics that are not only extremely clumsy, but disappointingly blunt. Feast your eyes on this cringe worthy lyrics:
“But I can lie, I can lie, if it makes you feel better
I can lie, I can lie, if it gives you pleasure
You'll be fine, you'll be fine, if we do it together
But I can lie, I can lie, if it makes you feel better”
Absolutely nothing to analyze about the lyrics of “Upon Returning.” Is there anything wrong with lyrics that are blunt? Not necessarily, but if they are written the wrong way, it is an absolute sin. These terrible lyrics are accompanied by an exasperating electronic beat that literally made me say, “Dredg what the hell happened” upon my first listen. The first two tracks are only the beginning of this incredibly grueling experience. “Another Tribe” and “Upon returning” foreshadows the entire sound of Chuckles as a record that is driven by hip hop beats, poorly used electronics, and a lackluster vocal performance by Gavin Hayes. Absolutely no passion or love for his art can be heard on this record and the same goes for the entire band. Nothing sounds natural on Chuckles and it is as if Dredg wanted to make an album that their fans would hate on purpose.
Dredg managed to make their fans scared of what is to come next. No one expected Dredg to stoop so low as to create a lame experimental album that not only disappointed fans of Dredg everywhere, but managed to destroy all of our expectations of them. “The Ornament” is definitely the only savior of this album that showcases a little of what Dredg used to be, but that does not say much. Any fans who do not want to be disappointed in their beloved band, I warn you about listening to this. You will lose some respect for them. Trust me, if this actually was a lie, I in fact would feel better.
