Dreems

There’s not much to do in Adelaide, except start a band, which Alex Cameron discovered soon after returning to his childhood home following the indefinite hiatus ofhis previous band Dardanelles. Joining forces with young songsmith Ben Marwe,the pair eventually found willing bedfellows in James Bartold and Miles Wilson and formed Bad//Dreems.

They started writing songs about shitty Adelaide summers, doomed relationships andbad comedowns in a guitar pop style indebted to the legacy of Flying Nun andGreasy Pop Records, as well as alt-rock outsiders Roland S. Howard and PaulKelly. Following a handful of gigs, including supports with Cut Off Your Hands (NZ) and Betty Airs (Syd),the band decamped to Melbourne to record their first songs in an old wool loftabove Fretted Instruments on Brunswick Street.

Thefirst product of that session is ‘Chills’,a bittersweet pop gem with as much heartfelt jangle as self-deprecating angst.It’s an ode to an unhappy summer, a prayer for rain, winter and darkness toenvelop the bleak suburbs of their hometown. “I'm only happy when nobody’s happy” mumbles Marwe over Cameron’sglittery guitar twangs.

‘Chills’ and its B-side ‘Close To God’ also mark the production debut for Children Collide front man JohnnyMackay who teamed with acclaimed engineer JackFarley (Twerps, Love Of Diagrams, Beaches). The recordings were mastered by WilliamBowden (Gotye, The Church, Straight Arrows).

‘Chills’ is accompanied by a video made by the band around the docks at Port Adelaide. The song and its video have already been praised by blogs around the world:

The dreary pop of ‘90s-era Flying Nun carries overinto the now with Australian band Bad//Dreems. How could a band from a sunny,tropical area be so down-trodden and destitute? Who cares, all I know is what Ihear and I hear goodness.
- Weekly Tape Deck

Adelaide’s Bad//Dreems are making moves of the dark,twisting, post-pop and jangling nostalgic kind.

- Doubtful Sounds

Hailingfrom the city of Adelaide in Southern Australia, Bad//Dreems mix downcastlyrics with glistening guitar pop on debut single ‘Chills’.

- Pop Head Wound

What's the deal with Adelaide and slacker-pop gems lately? Another new band with a great song.

- Radiant FBI

To launch their debut single, Bad//Dreemsare heading out to play their first interstate shows this March. They will be joiningpals Electric Smile Band and Betty Airs in Melbourne and Sydney respectively. Bracketing these showswill be a pair of hometown launches with benzo pop wunderkinds Old Mate and local heroes Straight To Video.

BAD//DREEMS tour dates:

Thursday 1 March –Arcade Lane, Adelaide (w/ Old Mate and Straight To Video)

Thursday 8 March –Freakout @ Laundry Bar, Melbourne (w/ Electric Smile Band)

Friday 16 March –GoodGod Small Club, Sydney (w/ Betty Airs)

Saturday 7 April –Fourwords @ Rhino Room, Adelaide – ‘CloseTo God’ video launch

Tracklist

1.	Chills	2:32

Credits

released January 3, 2012
Produced by Johnny Mackay (Children Collide, Electric Smile Band), Engineered by Jack Farley (Twerps, Beaches, Scott and Charlene's Wedding, Bitch Prefect), Mastered by William Bowden (The Church, Straight Arrows, Gotye)

License