|
The upbeat pop/rock arrangements of Dredg show reflections
of '80s new wavers Breathe, The Smiths, and Wet Wet
Wet, with modern vibrations of 2000's Editors, Hundred
Year Storm, and Angels And Airwaves. Dredg's 4-shank crew
with Gavin Hayes on vocals and guitar, Mark Engles on
guitar, Drew Roulette on bass, and Dino Campanella on
drums, hail from the San Francisco Bay area. Their recent album,
Live At The Filmore, follows their 2005 LP Catch Without Arms.
Originally forming in the mid-'90s, Dredg's first album Letimotif
did not come out until 2001 with a subsequent CD in 2002 entitled
El Cielo.
During this time, Dredg have become known for the intense wriggling
of their guitar effects and the twizzling stenciled moves of their
sonic textures which denote an Art rock vitreous. Still, their new
wave influences are dominant. They make nu wave a genre for the future
instead of a fetish from the past. Glisten, shimmer, electrify, twinkle
- you name it and Dredg's guitar effects do it, while cosset by myriad
synth-rock tones and stout rhythm sections. The glittering keys and
ascending guitar phrases on "Bug Eyes" have a smooth melodic
rock folding like This Day & Age, while the cruising tempo
on "Ode To The Sun" harness squirts of flinching guitar
echoes. The riptide of bass grooves on "Same Ol' Road" are
heightened by escalating vocal scales and elliptical guitar tones
demonstrating a Turn Off The Stars twitter. The pulsating rhythm
springs on "New Heart Shadow" are bound to sequined sonic
projections. The twisting and entangling guitar vibrations on "Triangle"
have a seraphic serenade while "The Tanbark Is Hot Lava"
exhibits futuristic sound clusters with a Hundred Year Storm text.
The saxophone processions performed by Dominic Lalli on "Whoa
Is Me" and "90 Hour Sleep" are cued up with melodic
pop/rock surfs pelted by tingling guitar tacks. The shimmering piano
sequences on "Walk In The Park" are adorned with echoing
vocals and a glossy guitar staccato, while the dynamics in the movements
alternate between plodding sluggishly and shimmying rapidly. The guitar
vibrations rattle and perforate the doddering rhythm sections which
furrow into deep inclines on "Yatahaze." The vocals remain
on an elevated plane above the melodic progressions, holding their
own notes while keeping in harmony with the instrument lines' waddling
and twitching. The tones are enlivened, moving like shadows guided
by a celestial force. There is an earthy and metallic quality in their
ethereal shadows, taking on a soft punk rhythm with rinks of gliding
guitar effects on "Stone By Stone."
Dredg's Live At The Filmore CD, taped at the Filmore Theatre
in San Francisco, showcases the band at their present stage with a
pop/rock rostrum that widens nu wave's girth and gives Art rock a
melodic sail. Their electro-rock sequences layered with dashing keys
and chugging rhythms aren't the first to suffuse such a combination,
but their experimental verses are innovative and finely hewed. Dredg
brings pop/rock back to the forefront and gives modern melodic rock
some new templates that work.
-Susan Frances
Track Listing:
1. The Warbler
2. Bug Eyes
3. Ode To The Sun
4. Same Ol' Road
5. Sanzen
6. New Heart Shadow
7. Triangle
8. The Tanbark Is Hot Lava
9. Not That Simple
10. Whoa Is Me
11. Walk In The Park
12. Of The Room
13. Stone By Stone
14. Catch Without Arms
15. Sang Real
16. The Ornament
17. The Canyon Behind Her
18. Yatahaze
19. 90 Hour Sleep
Check out
more reviews
 Talk
Back
e-mail the chief
Like this article?
e-mail
it to a friend!
|
Dredg
