Dredg – The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion

Releasedate: 29-05-2009; Label: Vertigo / Universal
By: Nina Mende

Dredg (commonly typeset as dredg) is an American progressive/alternative rock band formed in 1993 in Los Gatos, California. The band consists of vocalist Gavin Hayes, guitarist Mark Engles, bassist Drew Roulette and drummer Dino Campanella. With Hayes and Roulette enjoying art as a hobby, the band has consistently incorporated art, and painting in particular, into their albums and concerts. The band established themselves in the indie scene with their 1998 release of the concept album Leitmotif, landing them a deal with Interscope Records. Dredg released “El Cielo” in 2002 and in 2005 released the album “Catch Without Arms”. The just released their fourth and latest album “The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion”.

The album starts out with kids singing before you can hear the band playing. “Pariah” is very dreamy and melodic, and the album will mostly stay like that. The songs are getting stuck in your head very easily. It is not as fast and punky as I actually expected it to be but very deep and emotional. The album will definitely captivate you until its end. Some songs just make you sing along no matter whether you want it or not, others make you sway along. “Information” is the song known from TV, a great one that gets stuck very easily as well. “Long Days and Vague Clues” is without lyrics.
“Quotes” is a very slow song. “Down to the Cellar” is without lyrics again before “Stamp of Origin: Horizon” adds a relaxed closing to the album. Listening to it I realized how long “The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion” actually lasts. Not only because of the high number of songs on it, but also their duration. Sever songs last about six minutes. With this album I locked Dredg and their latest album in my heart, a wonderful piece of music and I surely hope we will hear lots more of them in the near future.

Tracklist: 1. “Pariah” – 4:12 2. “Drunk Slide” – 1:32 3. “Ireland” – 3:46 4. “Stamp of Origin: Pessimistic” – 0:54 5. “Lightswitch” – 3:33 6. “Gathering Pebbles” – 5:03 7. “Information” – 5:49 8. “Stamp of Origin: Ocean Meets Bay” – 0:35 9. “Saviour” – 4:01 10. “R U O K ?” – 2:16 11. “I Don’t Know” – 3:49 12. “Mourning This Morning” – 5:46 13. “Stamp of Origin: Take a Look Around” – 1:02 14. “Long Days and Vague Clues” – 1:56 15. “Cartoon Showroom” – 4:23 16. “Quotes” – 6:09 17. “Down to the Cellar” – 3:45 18. “Stamp of Origin: Horizon” – 2:25

Links:
Dredg MySpace
Dredg Official