THE AMERICAN STANDARD

"And now for something completely different..." Introducing the best band you've never heard in your life, Dreadnaught. This musically insane 3-piece band hails from New England, (New Hampshire to be exact), and has unleashed a sound and style on an unsuspecting prog world that will not just knock your socks off, it will blow them across the room. They have been described as "Yes meets Zappa at Willie Nelson's BBQ" and "King Crimson at a hoedown." The band itself has proclaimed their style as "prog-a-billy." And for all you old-school-I-heard-it-all-before prog heads out there, let me make this clear...you ain't ever heard nuthin' like 2001's THE AMERICAN STANDARD before! This largely instrumental, endlessly fascinating CD features chainsaw-fuzzball basslines driving diverse and complex compositions with all the subtlety of a good olde-fashioned Blitzkrieg, interweaving with usually clean, unusually intricate, eccentric guitar parts and rock solid drumming. The album starts out with BALLBUSTER, an aptly titled, out-of-control exercise in sonic acrobatics and dynamics that'll have you giggling like a little school girl as it slams you to the floor and doesn't let you go . And that's just the beginning. The 4 part, 20 minute opus DEUS EX MACHINA starts out innocently enough with a Stray-Cats-on-acid melody that soon rockets into the stratosphere with a bassline from country bumpkin hell, groovy guitars, bouncy pianos, and more rhythmic and melodic changes than you can shake a fist at. But it's not all in-your-face thunder. THE AMERICAN STANDARD possesses a dynamic that the Crimson King himself would be fond of! The quiet and subtle beauty of DERBY DAYS, and the quasi-techno sound and feel of DENEB, sound right at home beside the sonic fury of JAMES THRESHER INDUSTRIES, the latter of which features multiple kazoo parts. BUNNASCHIDT is a beautifully constructed tune that could be played at a QUALITY alternative station, if one exists, and features a la-la-la (literally) chorus that is guaranteed to get stuck in your head for days.CLOWNHEAD features an opening guitar riff so greasy, it should just slide out of your speakers and fall on the floor. This is one of those albums that will grow on you. All killer, no filler. Melody after melody will start to tattoo themselves to your brain. You will hear new things with every listen...slithering violin parts, multiple time signatures played simultaneously a la Zappa, nuances and interactions between musicians who favor integrity over commercialism, even some goofy lyrics and a CD cover featuring a previously unpublished piece of art by the brothers Hildebrandt. This is 55 minutes of pure fun!

And now for the bad news... unfortunately, you can't just walk into any record store and find THE AMERICAN STANDARD. Your best bet is to go to dreadnaughtrock.com, redfezrecords.com, ZNRcds.com or cdbaby.com to get a hold of this state-of-the-art 21st Century Schizoid band. Just do it! You will NOT be disappointed!