High Heat & Chin Music

Red Fez Records

What do you get when you take three wildly talented musicians, each equipped with a penchant for zany artistry, supply them with instruments and make them play together for 10 years?

Dreadnaught, that’s what.

After a decade of touring, performing and recording together, the trio has released an ambitious double-disc collection of songs, meticulously selected from the band’s previous five albums, along with a handful of new studio cuts. The 28 total tracks on the band’s latest two-disc release, “High Heat & Chin Music,” showcase the diversity of Dreadnaught’s arsenal, the depth of the band’s instrumental skills and the general oddness of the group’s members.

Dreadnaught’s musical adventure began in 1996, when bassist Bob Lord, guitarist Justin Walton and drummer Rick Habib formed a power-trio that relentlessly poked, prodded and jabbed at the boundaries of rock and roll. The trio released its self-titled, debut album in 1998 and followed it up two years later with “Una Vez Mas.” Next came “The American Standard” in 2001, “Musica En Flagrante” in 2004 and the double-disc “Live at Mojo” in 2005. 

Along the way, the group has toured the country repeatedly, playing more than 1,000 shows and performing with members of The Who, King Crimson, The Band and Strangefolk, among others. Dreadnaught has served as the house band for the “Writers on a New England Stage” series at The Music Hall, drawing praise from authors like John Updike and Dan Brown. (The band made a point of including these accolades in the latest album sleeve.)

A culmination of a meandering journey through the cavernous topography of rock, “High Heat” features a sampling of Dreadnaught past and present. It kicks off with a new tune, “Three Things,” written jointly by all members. The song is typical of its authors’ creative impulses—a rock heavyweight with forays into progressive jazz and fusion. Next comes “Popeye,” a buoyant and Phishy track off of “The American Standard,” followed by the slick, key-heavy instrumental “R. Daneel Olivaw,” one of the band’s crowning achievements, off of “Musica En Flagrante.”

The first three tracks reflect the multitudinous pools of music into which the band is capable of diving. All three members tear into their instruments with an improvisational deftness that can be achieved only through a combination of natural talent and relentless performance. While the lyrics are deliberately inane, and some songs elicit an emotion bordering on annoyance, the constant instrumental changes keep the 107 minutes of music mostly stimulating.

Dreadnaught’s diverse influences are too many to name, and they have paid tribute to many of its inspirational ancestors on previous recordings. “Live at Mojo” included covers of songs by Frank Zappa, Warren Zevon, The Grateful Dead and others. But “High Heat” consists entirely of Dreadnaught originals, four of them never before released. The CD is likely to appeal to listeners with appetites for bands ranging from Yes to Steely Dan to Primus to Phish.

The only thematic quality that is maintained throughout the entire two discs is a lightheartedness that indicates the musicians are having fun and not taking themselves too seriously. This will turn away some listeners, but others will greedily gobble up both discs in their entirety.

Madcap bassist Lord is cofounder and CEO of Red Fez Records, which is releasing the new album along with West Coast label Big Balloon Music. Dreadnaught produced the album, and Keith Demanche designed its compelling sleeve art, which features a drawing of one woman belting another in the face beneath the bold title “Chin Music.” The CD is available for $14.40 at www.dreadnaughtrock.com.