01	Kim Philby						04:28
	02	Deus Ex Machina - The Jester's Theme						06:35
	03	Deus Ex Machina - Deneb						02:42
	04	Deus Ex Machina - Tournament						02:41
	05	Deus Ex Machina - Derby Days						08:29
	06	Popeye						02:24
	07	Bunnaschidt						04:50
	08	James Thresher Industries: Building Solid Careers In Middle Management Since 1976						00:56
	09	Welding						04:51
	10	Ballbuster						03:33
	11	The Pumphaus Suite - Rats and Me						04:34
	12	The Pumphaus Suite - Swing						03:37
	13	Clownhead						05:27

Dreadnaught - The American Standard

Country of Origin: USA
Format: CD
Record Label: Red Fez Records
Catalogue #: FEZ-005
Year of Release: 2001
Time: 55:14

Tracklist: Ballbuster (4:28), The Jester's Theme (6:36), Deneb (2:42), Tournament (2:42), Derby Days (8:30), Popeye (2:25), Bьnnaschidt (4:50), James Thresher Industries (0:57), Welding (4:51), Kim Philby (3:33), Rats and Me (4:35), Swing (3:38), Clownhead (5:25).

The American Standard is third album by Progabilly trio Dreadnaught. Don't take the album title to literally, as not one single standard is used here, but many musical styles are mixed up in a crazy way.

Dreadnaught is a band that likes to confuse its audience. A piece may start in a relaxing jazz style, and then suddenly changes to fast rockabilly (!), mixed with some exciting "classic" prog rock (as in The Jester's Theme). The band borrows elements from a wide variety of musical styles, makes fun of them by blowing them up to ridiculous proportions, and then -after a few bars- changes to another completely different style. All in a dazzling tempo that keeps the listener in a constant state of musical confusion.

Especially in the many instrumental parts, melodies and rhythms are completely turned inside out (the first track, the instrumental Ballbuster, made me wonder "what the heck is going on here?").
The drums are quite jazzy and technical, constantly shifting into different time signatures. The bass guitar is restless, both supporting and attacking the drum parts with dominant and aggressive melody lines, not quite unlike Chris Squire (Yes). The main instrument is the guitar. Don't expect the usual "melodious" guitar solos here, they're often very wild and bizarre. I can hear quite some Yes (Steve Howe) and King Crimson (Robert Fripp) influences here. The vocals are not too strong, often destorted and not too much on the foreground. Some tracks also have additional instruments (sax, kazoo, violin, flute, organ and syths), which adds a nice colour to the sound spectrum.

The album has 13 separate tracks, some of which are connected parts of musical "suites". It's hard to point out some favourite tracks, as the album is an ongoing mixture of musical twists and turns, rather than a collection of songs and instrumental pieces. I think the album is mainly interesting in a "technical" way. The musical format comes closest to King Crimson (mainly the hectic Larks, Starless and Red period). The band has the weird sense of humour of The Cardiacs, and might also appeal to those who like the ecclectic Zappa stuff. The Yes influences are mainly in the way the instruments are played, but the musical result is totally different.

I quite like The American Standard for its energy and its experimental approach of the prog rock idiom. Traditional prog rock fans may find the album too hectic and technical. It seems the band is not interested in creating "magical bombast" or emotionally haunting songs. As the album is quite "uneasy listening", I think it will be appreciated best by the more 'progressive' prog rock fans.

Conclusion: 7 out of 10.

Rob Michel



Dreadnaught - The American Standard

Red Fez (FEZ-005)
USA 2001

Robert M. Lord, bass, synth, organ, speech, kazoo, background vocal; Justin S. Walton, electric and acoustic guitars, piano, sax, organ, vocals, kazoo; Richard R. Habib, drums, percussion, vocals; with Shaun Frenchie Michaud, drum loops, synth; Andy Happel, violins, organ; William L. Walton II, french horn; Jay Williams, euphonium; Daria J. Blake, flute

Tracklist:
1. Ballbuster — 4:28
2. The Jester's Theme — 6:36
3. Deneb — 2:42
4. Tournament — 2:42
5. Derby Days — 8:30
6. Popeye — 2:25
7. Bu"nnaschidt — 4:50
8. James Thresher Industries: Building Solid Careers in Middle Management Since 1976 — 0:57
9. Welding — 4:51
10. Kim Philby — 3:33
11. Rats and Me — 4:35
12. Swing — 3:38
13. Clownhead — 5:25

total time 55:14


steve

Dreadnaught is a relatively new 3-piece American band. They consider themselves a "Progabilly" band, but their music bursts with dozens of different musical styles. These guys seem to have been influenced especially by Junta-era Phish, back when the band wasn't afraid to create complex progressive music, and Trey Anastasio loved to sing about all sorts of oddball topics. Guitarist Justin S. Walton seems to have studied Trey's guitar style well, yet he takes that style to a new level with all sorts of schizo-guitar runs/licks, interesting chordal shapes, and avant-garde jazz-guitar techniques. He very often jumps, as a loose example, from Anastasio/Howe-like rockabilly vamps, to dark King Crimsonish guitar licks, and then finishes the theme with a gentle Django-esque acoustic guitar melody. This is some of the best guitar work that I've heard in years. Another influence that comes to my mind, when listening to Justin's guitar work, is the Hampton Grease Band. If you are familiar with this incredible southern American prog band, Justin's guitar style is like a modern version of Glenn Phillip's style on that album.

The other two main musicians in Dreadnaught are also worth mentioning. Bassist Robert Lord adds some rather unique bass work all over the album. I can't really compare him to anyone else, but his presence is heard throughout the CD due to all sorts of cool sound-effects and bass licks. Drummer Richard Habib somehow keeps up with the two other guys by playing non-cliched grooves, and very often matches complicated melodies note for note.

The music, as I mentioned, is well-balanced and features all sorts of styles(some surprising styles too). This band loves to play complicated Phish/Hampton Grease Band-like sections of music that are sometimes as frantic as some of Yezda Urfa's music on Sacred Baboon. I even hear a subtle hint of RIO (5uu's, Univers Zero, and Henry Cow) in some sections. But these guys also like to sing poppier, yet oddball, songs that could definitely get airplay on a college radio station. Overall, though, the catchy vocal-based tunes balance out the crazier instrumental moments on the CD. Once in a while, violin, piano, flute, and even French horn is also added to various tracks. Some of those guest musicians add interesting colors to the arrangements, especially the violinist who reminds a bit of Stephan Grapelli.

American Standard is killer. I'm not sure what neo-prog and sympho fans are going to think of it, but if you love early Phish, the Hampton Grease Band, Trey Anastasio's poppier song writing, Steve Howe's rockabilly influences, Yezda Urfa's instrumental sections, then you will definitely love the music here. Okay, I think I'm going to pick up my guitar now, and try to figure out what the hell Justin is doing on most of this album.

review by Steve Hegede — 1-21-02