Dream Version

"Sharp-cornered, highly erudite rock that brings to mind horn-rimmed glasses and sticker-covered college radio studios... a hyper-precise aesthetic adds heat to pointed (and, at times, self-lacerating) lyrics about 21st-Century ills and turns the band’s moments of post-punky chaos... into giddy realizations of their musical might." — Rolling Stone

In the Before Times, Dream Version could be witnessed in a mad dash to establish themselves. They described themselves as an indie pop Trojan Horse, testing out how many weird choices they could make without sacrificing an accessible, melodic exterior. Songs rushed from verse to chorus to bridge to second bridge in a race to cleverness, all anchored by what some onlookers termed “lead bass.”

Since then, Dream Version’s twin mantras have remained: “Don’t waste time” and “Don’t condescend.”

On their self-titled third album, the best friends decided to take a moment to simply inhabit the space they’ve created. Spare, haunting opener “A Mind Can Change” channels The Breeders with a slow, deliberate crescendo of bass and drums. The dramatic build of “Actress On A Press Tour” sustains an extended simmer before boiling over into an epic six-minute runtime. And “Advance/Retreat” wraps the listener in a warm blanket of cozy repetition.

Along the way, Dream Version demonstrate their ability to craft a perfect pop song (“Wasn’t Listening”), their chops for crafty math rock (“33”), and their great mushy tenderness (“Ned”).

Between their second and third albums, the band has experienced marriage, divorce, relocation, and of course a global pandemic. With these changes comes a new confidence, sense of purpose, and a newly urgent loyalty to one another. As the liner notes to Dream Version announce, “The result is a looser set of songs that represents everything we like and everything we’re capable of. We decided to name it after ourselves.”