Wet Dreams - Wet Dreams
WET DREAMS
WET DREAMS
Blackpop Records
Release: April 12, 2019
With a name like Wet Dreams, what kind of sound would you have? Death By Unga Bunga frontman, Sebastian Ulstad Olsen, fronts this side project with songs that he didn’t know what to do with. The songs grew into a fast and scruffy EP, released in the summer of 2017 – and now the self-titled debut album is finally here.
Wet Dreams is a punk/garage rock group from Oslo consisting of members from FOAMMM, Warp Riders, De Marvells as well as the aforementioned Death By Unga Bunga. They played one of their first ever concerts at Norway’s biggest festival, Øya in 2017, and bookers both at home and internationally have been hounding them ever since. So far in 2018, they have played festivals in Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Following the album release, the band will tour Norway, Europe and the US. Wet Dreams recorded the album by themselves with help from Terje Vea Torkellsen (Mats Wawa, Geetar), while Øystein Braut (Electric Eye, Dig Deeper, Soft Ride, Low Frequency in Stereo) did the mix, birthing an album of gritty, aggressive and ultra catchy punk rock n roll. The song “I Can Fly” will be featured in an upcoming episode of the American TV show “War Games”.
Tracklist:
Band Aid
Her
Radioactivity
Depression
Roliglata
Bad Boy
Boogie
Blueslata
Beautiful
I Told You / Drugs
Although the band reminds me so much of Death By Unga Bunga, the first track “Bandaid” is much more punk compared to the
other group. This song gives us a little taste of what’s about to come. With loads of feedback, giving us a visceral sound, the first track ends with an abrupt stop, with more feedback to start
the next song, “Her”. The quality and choice of styles in this song are heavily American 90’s punk. So far, this album hasn’t strayed from being catchy but slightly aggressive. Transitioning into
“Radioactivity”, the album continues this emotion of lashing out at everyone. Sebastian goes into the chorus with “...Norwegian rock ‘n’ roll has gone up and died… I’d rather kill myself than be
like that”. These are some very strong personal views, and although used metaphorically, I’m moved by these choice of words. The shortest song on this album, “Depression” barrels through a
self-explanatory topic. “Roliglåta” shuffles at a slower pace, giving us time to take in what we heard so far. It’s the track that sounds the most “Death By Unga Bunga”-ish. With a nice bass tone
and the classic drumsticks countoff, “Bad Boy” rolls in with even more guitar feedback. It’s here where I pick out some early Queens Of The Stone Age similarities. The yelling Sebastian does
reminds me of former member Nick Oliveri vocal style. After a few seconds of (you guessed it!) more amazing feedback, “Boogie” jams into our ears. This song is the most rock and roll sounding one
of them all. “Blueslåta” almost feels like the same tempo as “Roliglåta”, and there’s not much more to say. “Beautiful” ‘s intro guitar riff reminds me of “Born To Be Wild” by Steppenwolf,
although in a different key. It’s that similarity that makes it sound very 70s rock, modernized. Ending this trip is “I Told You / Drugs”, with the continuous yelling of “I take, I take, I
take drugs!”. It kinda sounds upbeat in the sense of a maniac using drugs while tripping everywhere. It’s a nice ending to this punk album.
Wet Dreams definitely has a laughable name, yet they are punk as hell! I still can’t seem to separate the lines of Sebastian’s vocal stylings (besides the yelling), and because of this, it becomes harder to tell if I’m listening to Death By Unga Bunga or Wet Dreams. Both bands have the catchy rock and roll aesthetics with a “back to basics” attitude.
Yet, Wet Dreams is what I feel DBUB should have been: more punk, more garage, while still maintaining that catchy vibe. I’m rating Wet Dreams a 6.7/10. I would want to hear more diversity from Sebastian, although I respect the man’s mission. Whatever he’s doing, he’s doing it well.
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By Kevin
31/5/2019
