For a band, longevity is a double-edged sword. It means that an artist's music has the power to sustain over time but it also means that evolution is necessary. Sometimes that progression is organic and slow while other times it's urged, driven by a desire to change and grow. That is where we find Bay Area rock band DREDG today, on the brink of releasing their fifth album in over 15 years. The band's new album, Chuckles and Mr. Squeezy, is a far cry from their 1998 debut Leitmotif - and even from their most recent disc, 2009's The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion - but now, looking back, you can see a band who've transformed themselves again and again of their own volition. Produced by Dan the Automator, Chuckles and Mr. Squeezy witnesses DREDG trekking down a new path, in an unexplored direction. The resulting album is almost like opening a new chapter of a book. The players are familiar and it still sounds like the work of the same artist, but the tones have shifted and the setting's changed. Dan the Automator's influence is palpable. As a producer and collaborator Dan is almost the guide on this new path, pushing the band to work harder and find new aspects of themselves to inspire their songwriting and playing.