LIVE AT THE FILLMORE

I don’t get particularly excited about dredg, and really don’t consider them to be a progressive band at all. They’re a pretty good indie band, not all that far away from the Decemberists or Arcade Fire or maybe even the Shins. Which is to say they are very good individual musicians, and as a collective they perform professionally and proficiently. But they don't give me goosebumps or anything.

But it’s hard to get overly excited about their music unless you are a hardcore fan. Sonically this recording is quite good, and sounds excellent on a good stereo (and not bad at all in my car either, which has a decent stereo but nothing overly fancy). And the tracks are decent enough, with a healthy dose from both ‘Catch Without Arms’ and ‘El Cielo’. There are only a couple tracks from ‘leitmotif’, but that one is not the band’s strongest anyway, so no big loss there.

Detractors include the absence of “Jamais Vu” and “Spitshine” from ‘Catch Without Arms’, both of which are stronger than some of the tracks that were included in my opinion, and particularly more so than “Ode to the Sun” or “Tanbark is Hot Lava”. Also a few new songs or even B-sides would have given this album a bit of appeal that is otherwise kind of lacking. Basically the band proves they can translate their studio sound to the stage without suffering much. Good for them, but a lot of bands can do that. What can you bring to the stage that’s new and fresh? Not a lot, apparently.

“Stone by Stone” is new, and it’s a decent track, but really Gavin Hayes’ voice is too recognizable and lacking in variety to keep most of their songs from sounding the same. Same goes for “The Warbler”, which if I’m not mistaken is the only other new tune.

“Catch Without Arms”, “The Ornament”, “Not That Simple”, and “Bug Eyes” are the strongest tracks, as they were on their original albums as well. The rest is good, but not great.

This is technically a very good album, but not much of it is new, and what has been recorded before isn’t improved on much or given any additional nuances to explore. This is a decent performance by a band that apparently gives you your money’s worth in a live setting, but that’s about it. Three stars.

peace