Category: Dream Wife

The tenth and final instalment of this occasional feature, in which I’ve tried to draw your attention to some albums that have been purchased in 2023 and which I reckon are worth highlighting.

Dream Wife‘s third album, Social Lubrication, landed in June, some three years after the previous release, So When You Gonna had taken the trio into the UK Top 20.   I’m guessing hopes were quite high for this one, but it barely dented the chart, spending a solitary week at #73 before disappearing.

I wrote a guest post a few months ago over at No Badger Required in which I referenced a few all-female bands, and said this about Dream Wife:-

“A London-based trio whose frantically fabulous mix of punk, indie, and pop has been captured on three studio albums. They make a magnificent racket in the live setting with a refreshing and welcome on-stage approach in which they are quick to call out any boorish behaviour from males in the audience, while also insisting that space down the front in the mosh-pit be reserved for ‘bad bitches’ (to which all genders are welcome to be part of).

“Dream Wife are a smart and very sassy group. They make music which is vibrant and energetic, but are more than capable of slowing things down to get their viewpoints across in ways that very much appeal to a modern audience, whose awareness of social and political issues is refreshing and welcome. My one concern is that the new album hasn’t sold as well as the last one, which makes me wonder if they are part of that cycle that’s always been with us, where a band bursts onto the scene, gathers itself a large fan-base, often of folk who are at school/college/university, but whose changing priorities as they move on in life means the music becomes less important. I hope not, and that their appearances at festivals over the summer and their own headlining tour later in the year reignites a well-deserved interest.”

Social Lubrication was on the end of loads of praise from the critics:-

‘a righteous mix of pleasure, anarchy and empowerment’ (The Line Of Best Fit)

‘a record that’s both a progression, and that shows off wonderfully just what made them so exciting to begin with’ (DIY Mag)

‘a stunner of an album – anthemic, coarse and confrontational at times, but sensitive, curious and passionate at others’ (Riot Mag)

‘a thrillingly intoxicating album. It’s spine-tingling in its themes and presented wrapped in dirty riffs and choruses built for dancing together in shared spaces’ (God Is In The TV)

‘Another blistering, brilliant missive from one of rock’s most fearless bands, on ‘Social Lubrication’, Dream Wife prove two things. Firstly, social commentary and exorcising your fury at the world don’t have to be joyless, and secondly, they’re still one of the most vital acts we’ve got right now’ (NME)

‘Nevermind lighting up the UK’s the alternative scene, Dream Wife have shown here that they’ve got everything it takes to gatecrash the mainstream. Now wouldn’t that be a dream?’ (Louder)

‘an exhilarating listen crackling with energy, made for yelling along to with both glee and rage’ (Stereoboard)

I, of course, agree with all of the above…and have picked out the quotes so as not to be accused of plagarism!!

The track selected as the advance single is the most angry on the entire record.  It was chosen despite knowing it had no chance of being broadcast on regular radio stations.

The next track that was made available was a bit more tongue-in-cheek and great fun.

Not all ten tracks proved to be as riotous and noisy as the two songs released in advance, and indeed there’s few really danceable indie-pop numbers:-

mp3: Dream Wife – Kick In The Teeth

It’ll be very interesting to see what happens next.   I do hope there’s a fourth album and more shows in the offing.

Just to finish off today with a note that I’m heading off on holiday this coming Sunday for a couple of weeks.   The usual Saturday and Sunday things will still be appearing, but otherwise I’m going to be putting up daily one-hour mixes that I’ve curated to take away with me to listen to while sunbathing. Some of these will be brand new, while others will be retreads of mixes that haven’t been available to download for many years.

Things will get back to normal in early December.

Very late PS..……

an 11th album for recommendation landed in Villain Towers just a couple of weeks back.  It was given a tremendous review by the incredibly talented Craig McAllister over at Plain or Pan?, and he has kindly allowed me to repost said review on TVV.  It’ll be up later on today as a bonus post.

JC

My only legitimate excuse is that I spend so much faffing about on here sorting out so much old music that I naturally will miss out on all that’s fresh and good.

About four weeks ago, I had thought 2018 had been a quiet year for decent music, based on how little I had actually purchased.  As ever, I did hang off getting hold of everything as there always needs to be a list given to Mrs Villain  for Christmas and the 5 albums of booty from that were duly received.  But having compiled said list from stuff that I knew, I found myself reading a few of the end of year round ups (especially those over at The Sound Of Being OK) at which point I realised just how much I missed out on.  There was a post-Xmas trip to Fopp Records in Glasgow with the intention to pick up a few things and I ended spending an absolute fortune.

I’m now ploughing my way through everything and the idea of this short and occasional series will be to highlight those bands that I’m ashamed to have neglected previously.

I’m starting with Dream Wife whose self-titled debut album was released as far back as January 2018….and I’m completely at a loss as to how I missed out.

TSOBO said this about them:-

At the end of last year (2017) I was about to proclaim that guitar music was dead. Stone Cold Dead. Last year there were about two good records made by guitar bands, about seven by bands with keyboards and about twenty by rappers. This year that trend appears to have reversed itself and right at the start of the year Dream Wife exploded into our lives.

In January Dream Wife dropped their self titled debut album and it made those short dark evenings, those dreary rain sodden evenings just absolutely fly by. They were cool, they were exciting and almost singlehandedly they injected some adrenaline into the veins of guitar music.

The thing about Dream Wife is that the three of them are best friends, and when they recorded this album they sound like they are having the times of their absolute lives. The fact that they are making songs that amazing just adds to the brilliance of it.

I’m going to go with a slightly obvious comparison here, but you will need to close your eyes and cast your mind back. Remember the first time you heard ‘Cannonball’ by The Breeders. Remember how your hairs on your arm stood up and you asked yourself ‘what the hell was that?’ and then spent the rest of the day playing it to absolute death. You remember that. Well that’s what I felt like when I heard ‘Hey Heartbreaker’ by Dream Wife. Even though it contains handclaps.

Dream Wife take all the best bits of timeless indie pop, throw in some attitude lifted almost directly from the days of L7 or Bikini Kill add a bit of colour and then sprinkle brilliance over the top of it. The end result is utterly brilliant.

I listened to the three songs accompanying the review and was blown away.  It was that record alone that led to me making the trip into Fopp and I was stunned to find that copies of the album, on vinyl, were down to £10. It has proved to be the best bargain I’ve had in decades.

Dream Wife is an astounding record. In addition to the bands referenced in the TSOBO review you can add Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Le Tigre, Blondie, Kenickie and Elastica as influences while having bringing a passion and energy that had me harking back to the new wave era of my late teens and early 20s.  They’ve also written what surely is the anthem for the #metoo movement:-

mp3 : Dream Wife – Somebody

Like most ‘new’ bands, there loads of stuff to look at over at Vevo and You Tube, including plenty of live clips which provide evidence that the trio (plus male drummer) can rock with the best of them.  Seek them out and enjoy.

JC