by, Marion Hodges
By the time Dream Bitches completed their performance on the first day of New York Popfest, I was a diehard fan. I knew absolutely nothing about the band going into the show other than the fact that their name raised a small red flag. Of course, I was quite careful to remind myself that while a name such as Dream Bitches could lead to something either totally offensive (or flat out embarrassing), it also held the potential for something sly, clever, and perhaps a bit subversive. Fortunately everything about Dream Bitches was entirely the latter.
Having subsequently purchased an album from the band, it seems that the majority of their set was comprised from 2008's, Coke & Splinters. I've been listening to that one a lot this week, and the same things that struck me about Dream Bitches' live show came through on that record. The harmonies are super tight, but at the same time rough around the edges.
The words are smart as well as confessional, but at the same time often slightly tripped over. It's almost as if the narrator of any given song was showing a journal entry to a friend that she was desperate to share, but just as eager to pull away in a timely manner so the full impact of the words may or may not be felt. Of course there are also moments of brilliant confidence. My favorite sentence all week long has been from the song "Bad Luck Bill" that opens the album Coke & Splinters, and if I'm not mistaken opened their live show as well: "I really wish you would miss me a small fraction of how much I don't think that I miss you." The sound of the music that backs such clever words is pretty much equal measures of a certain strain of rowdy/vaguely threatening indiepop, the most enjoyable aspects of pop punk, and the more melodic tendencies of riot grrrl. I still find myself impressed with how they've able to combine these elements in a way that seems totally familiar, but still remarkably satisfying and fresh.
You can purchase both Dream Bitches records here.
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