TOTT 2016 #2: DREAM WIFE

‘Dream Wife‘ is a 1953 romantic comedy starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, in which a businessman breaks off his engagement to his workaholic girlfriend to be with an “old fashioned” woman from the fictional country of Bukistan. Apparently the film is where Rakel Mjöll, Alice Go and Bella Podpadec took their band name from, but you might think that a Cary Grant rom-com doesn’t seem to fit their alt-punk mould? Then again, Dream Wife are all about subverting expectations.

In fact, Dream Wife weren’t even intended to be a proper band. The members got together while studying fine and visual arts in Brighton with the idea of forming a “fake girl band.” As well as writing songs and recording them, they made a mockumentary inspired by Spinal Tap (as you do).

But they were so successful at creating in-your-face riot grrl rock that they organically morphed into a “real” band, signed to Lucky Number and released EP01 back in March.

Inspired by everything from Bikini Kill to Blondie and Bananarama, it opened with the riotous riffs of ‘Hey Heartbreaker,’ and closed with the alt-pop power chords of ‘Kids.’ It showed off that Dream Wife could morph into any shape they wanted, experimenting by touching on different genres while always having a hook that’ll thoroughly nestle itself into your brain. If Sleater-Kinney and The Bangles formed a supergroup, they’d probably sound quite a bit like Dream Wife.

2017 is already set to be a huge year for the trio, as they’re already booked in to headline DIY’s ‘Hello tour’, taking their empowering tunes everywhere from London’s Old Blue Last to The Cluny in Newcastle and Manchester’s Night & Day Cafe. Get ready, because Dream Wife really will ‘FUU.’

Words by Eugenie Johnson

Tipped by Tiffany Daniels from Drunken Werewolf 

DREAM WIFE were originally featured on April 12th with words by Linsey Teggert

View the full TOTT 2016 countdown here