Review Summary: Thats what happens when you compromise your art.
Oh, Dredg. Dredg is a very unique band formed in Los Gatos California in 1993, originally starting out as fairly standard nu-metal, progressively becoming more melodic through 1999's leitmotif and 2002's progressive titan El Cielo, and then moving to a more conventional alternative rock style through 2005's Catch Without Arms and 2009's The Pariah, with the latter incorporating more electronic elements. And where does Chuckles & Mr. Squeezy lie, relative to he bands back discography? Say for example, that lead vocalist Gavin Hayes is the father of Dredg's children. Their oldest child Leitmotif, was above average intelligence but had some occasionally violent and unpredictable behavior, leading to the albums more aggressive tone. Their second, El Cielo is the genius of the family, nearly unexpectedly genius in comparison to his siblings, nevertheless going on to become a doctor or a college professor. The third child, is a respectful, again above average intelligence, yet lacking the edge that gives his oldest sibling so much character. Now the fourth, The Pariah the Parrot the Delusion is substantially younger than the rest, in turn never allowing him to quite reach the examples led by his extensive family, although not entirely being to blame. Now Chuckles & Mr. Squeezy is the accidental 5th, with a mild form of mental disability, but still retaining some, albeit a little, of the character that his family is known for.
Why is it necessary to mention previous works by the band? I think an album should be judged in two ways, how it sits as a standalone album, and how it compares to the best of a bands abilities. After thoroughly analyzing this album from both perspectives, I have long since came to the concluding that this is a poor album in both aspects. So many questions arise while listening to this album, as there are many very questionable decisions made on this album, almost coming across we as if Dredg tried to see how little effort they could get away with on this album.
Now the incorporation of electronics can add a lot to music if well executed (Deftones), but can also be potentially fatal to an album (Linkin Park). In full honesty the electronics aren't the problem with this album, not to say that they are done in an expertise manner, but instead the problem with the album is just an overall lack of energy, cohesion, and anything remotely close to depth. Albums like El Cielo thrive off of minimalism, being one of the most prominent factors in how great the outcome is, but on this album they redefine minimalism, originally used to focus upon beautifully instrumental passages, just now represents and endlessly empty feeling, alienating you as the listener from the album completely, leaving the impression that you're observing someone listening to the album, rather than experiencing it yourself. Opener 'Another Tribe' sets the tone for the album perfectly, preparing you for what is to come over the course of the next 40-ish minutes: not inherently bad, but entirely uninteresting near silence over a drum machine, and Gavin's quiet, almost spoken vocals. For example, the piano led 'melody' of the chorus of the opening track is nothing more than a single note moving down a scale, being the strongest example of nearly no effort being output. This brings me to another fault of this album, in the form of the vocals. I can assure you that this isn't the worst vocal performance I've ever heard, but although nobody knows enough about Gavin Hayes to make him a Wikipedia page, the one thing that's very apparent about this man is that he can sing, which brings his performance even lower because we all know what he's capable of. Aside from the opener, arguably the worst track on the album is track 8. Curiously titled Kalathat, had the potential to become the strongest song on the album without a doubt, because the use of acoustic guitar is one of the first time at any point that a band of any kind is included rather than just Gavin himself. Needless to say, this potential is wasted, as this song fails to progress or do anything remotely interesting in any form, bringing a new definition the word boredom.
If there is any saving grace to this 40 some minute album of near silence, it's The Thought of Losing You and The Ornament. The former has a sincerely somber tone, especially when accompanied by the very depressing music video. Although nothing groundbreaking, it's the first truly catchy song, complete with a not entirely passion-less vocal performance. The Ornament is also decent enough to be considered solid, with its baseline coming from the outro in the closing minutes of Catch Without Arms, managing to conjure some emotion, even if just through the use of nostalgia.
Overall, in every sense, this album should not have been made. You're likely to find more depth in any given mainstream rock album, and you're likely to find more energy in Avenved Sevenfold's 'Hail to the King.' Despite all these negatives, Dredg has been known for experimentation in the past, and I do believe they tried to accomplish something with this album, so they can't entirely be blamed for an album of this quality. Chuckles & Mr. Squeezy was a failed experiment, ranking well below the best of the bands' abilities, so we can just hope that if Dredg ever comes back around, they will do better next time.
