In the United States, the Friday after Thanksgiving is the biggest shopping day of the year. Good, honest people who have recently gorged themselves on turkey and dressing go to stores across the nation and are transfigured into incoherent maniacs racing through the aisles grabbing everything that is on sale. Its quite an experience. I live near an army base, and on every army base there is a store called a PX, or Post Exchange. This store has everything, usually at lower prices then other stores. My PX was having a huge sale, everything at least 40% off. Me, being a good capitalist, woke up and drove to go see what I could spend my paltry allowance on. As I was looking through the CD section with about a hundred other shoppers, I found an album called Catch Without Arms by Dredg. I picked it up on a whim, having heard a few songs from it. Battling my way toward the register, I paid the $8.95 for the half price CD and strolled out of the PX with my purchase. Popping it into my car stereo, I found that this CD was worth the long lines, frightening soccer moms with carts full of toys and appliances, and other hazards of the biggest shopping day of the year.
Dredg is a unique band that utilizes ambient keyboards, driving basslines, lap steel guitar, passionate vocals, and walls of distorted noise to create epic soundscapes that wrap around the listener’s unwary ears. It is quite a beautiful thing to behold. The best part, at least in my opinion, are the vocals. Gavin, I believe is his name, has amazing range and his heartfelt lyrics dance above the beautiful music made by the band behind him. The bass is almost always audible, which is definitely a plus. The guitar is very versatile, going from distorted heavy strumming to making some pretty impressive licks. The lap steel is a good addition to the sound, setting off the regular guitar. The drummer does his job well, keeping time and occasionally throwing in an imaginative beat here and there.
Not being a big fan of track-by-tracks, I will just cover a few highlights. “Bug Eyes” is probably the album’s highlight, and I believe the only single. It begins with lap steel which is quickly backed up by heavy guitar. The verses are just drums, bass, and a subtle guitar lick. The title track is good as well, probably the best lyrically. The rest of the album is great, but the album closer “Matroshka” is just plain beautiful. It has a mixture of piano, acoustic guitar, and an interesting background ambience from keyboard and reverbed guitar. The vocals and lyrics are top notch as well. Great song.
This album isn’t all good, though. The songs are all at least four minutes in length, which may turn some people away.While there are really no bad songs, some, such as “Sang Real” break up the flow and don’t really add anything. Fans of Dredg’s other album, El Cielo, will probably be disappointed at Catch Without Arms’ heavier, more mainstream sound. This album is best when you listen to it all the way through, so don’t start it and go away in the middle. Make sure you have time to enjoy the full experience.
Dredg has made my Day After Thanksgiving Day very enjoyable indeed. I would recommend this to anyone who needs to slow down and just chill out. As an introduction to Dredg, this is probably the best way to go, instead of their more experimental release El Cielo. Catch Without Arms never gets repetitive, surprising you at every turn. So go ahead, buy this, you won’t be disappointed.
4.5/5
