Dreamcar
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 12, 2017 (2017-05-12)
Studio
Genre
Length39:10
LabelColumbia
ProducerTim Pagnotta
Singles from Dreamcar
  1. "Kill for Candy"
    Released: March 2, 2017 (2017-03-02)
  2. "All of the Dead Girls"
    Released: July 2017 (2017-07)

Dreamcar is the eponymous debut studio album by the American supergroup Dreamcar, consisting of AFI's Davey Havok and No Doubt's Tom Dumont, Tony Kanal, and Adrian Young. It was released on May 12, 2017, through Columbia Records, and produced by Tim Pagnotta.

Dreamcar was preceded by the release of lead single "Kill for Candy" and several promotional singles. Dreamcar promoted the single with a music video and through televised performances in the United States. "All of the Dead Girls" was chosen as the album's second single in July. Dreamcar received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who highlighted Havok's role and the album's contrast from No Doubt and AFI releases. Commercially, the album underperformed, reaching number 115 on the main Billboard 200 chart in the United States, and the top 20 on both the Top Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums charts.

Background and inspiration edit

Dreamcar is an American supergroup, consisting of AFI's lead vocalist Davey Havok and No Doubt members Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont, and Adrian Young. Absent from the latter group is lead singer Gwen Stefani, who was releasing music as part of her solo career.[1]

It was recorded at Henson Recording Studios in Hollywood and Rancho Pagzilla in North Hollywood.[2]

Music and lyrics edit

In contrast to their rock-focused musical explorations as No Doubt and AFI, Dreamcar is a new wave and synth-pop project.[2][3] The lyrics are romantic, and are directed at Havok's current and prior personal relationships. Regarding the album's sound, he referred to it as representative of his musical beginnings and considered it an "adolescent time capsule of sorts".[4]

Release and promotion edit

Worldwide, Dreamcar was digitally released for paid download and streaming on May 12, 2017, through Columbia Records.[5] Physically, the album was distributed as a CD and and LP.[6][7] Exclusively through Newbury Comics, Dreamcar signed a limited amount of LP copies to be placed for sale.[8]

Dreamcar made several live appearances to promote the album. They appeared on the April 18, 2017 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! to perform "Kill for Candy" and "All of the Dead Girls".[9][10] On May 11, 2017, they also performed "Kill for Candy" on The Late Late Show with James Corden.[11] Furthermore, the group embarked on a tour to promote the album. Brittany Woolsey from OC Weekly called their Santa Ana concert energetic, and noted that the group seemed to be enjoying themselves.[12] While promoting, Havok's physical appearance was considered muted compared to his previous goth or rock and roll looks.[3]

Singles edit

Dreamcar was preceded in release by several of its songs. Lead single "Kill for Candy" was released on March 2, 2017, as the group's debut single and first song.[13][14][A] In the United States, it was sent to modern rock radio stations for airplay, and a promotional CD single was distributed in Europe by RCA Records and Sony Music.[15][16] The accompanying music video was directed by Frank Borin and acts as a memorialization of the founding of Dreamcar.[17][18] "Kill for Candy" is the group's only song to be featured on a record chart in the United States, reaching numbers 28 and 35 on Billboard's Alternative Airplay and Rock Airplay charts, respectively.[19][20] On April 7, 2017, the group released "Born to Lie", the album's first promotional single, and debuted its lyric video.[21][22]

"All of the Dead Girls" was released as the second promotional single from Dreamcar on April 14, 2017.[23] Later, the song was chosen as the album's second commercial single, and distributed to modern rock radio stations in July.[24][25] A music video for the single was planned, and in August 2017, prior to singing "All of the Dead Girls" at The Conservatory in Santa Ana, Havok told the audience that the live performance would be recorded and used for that purpose.[12] "On the Charts" was the selected as the album's final promotional release, and premiered on May 5, the week before the release of Dreamcar.[26]

Reception edit

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic71/100[27]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [2]
Consequence of SoundB–[3]
Pitchfork5.8/10[4]
PunkNews.org     [28]
Rock Sound8/10[29]

Dreamcar received mostly favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 71 which signifies "generally favorable reviews", based on 5 reviews.[27]

Matt Collar from AllMusic said it is a vibrant debut album that benefitted from Havok's "distinctly sharp-witted, punk-informed energy"; he summarized: "Ultimately, while Dreamcar's debut surely exists as a byproduct of No Doubt and Havok's various successes, the album stands on its own, magnified by each bandmember's most charismatic elements."[2] Also impressed by Havok's performance was Collin Brennan, a writer for Consequence of Sound, who felt he is entirely committed as the group's frontman. He called the album "altogether more welcome" than new No Doubt or AFI releases, and highlighted "Kill for Candy", "On the Charts", and "All of the Dead Girls" as its essential songs.[3] Rock Sound's David McLaughlin praised Dreamcar as a "modern-day supergroup" that "the world didn't realize it was missing".[29] He also enjoyed the group's genre fusion of "disco, funk and hot gothic" music.[29] Brandi Smith from Riff Magazine predicted that No Doubt and AFI fans may dislike the album's 1980s influence, but found it to be a "wonderful nod" to the era that is simultaneously "something new".[30]

Providing a mixed review, Renaldo69, of PunkNews.org, spoke of Dreamcar's track listing, saying that it begins on a charming note, but "it does end up a bit boring toward the end"; ultimately, he enjoyed the album, considering it a risk "but one everyone involved can afford".[28] Zoe Camp from Pitchfork considered Dreamcar to be a "simple labor of love", separating it from similar supergroup releases.[4] However, she questioned Havok's songwriting abilities on songs like "All of the Dead Girls" and "On the Charts", which she felt had some "lyrical setbacks".[4] Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times felt Dreamcar's attempt to harness a "modern pop-punk sound" portrayed them as followers, which he said is "an especially unflattering look given that they actually lived through the period they're revisiting."[1]

Chart performance edit

Dreamcar underperformed compared to other albums in the same genre, like After Laughter by Paramore.[1] However, it entered several Billboard albums charts in the United States. On the all-genre Billboard 200 chart, the album debuted at number 115 on the issue dated June 3, 2017, only performing for 1 week.[31][32] It fared higher on the component Album Sales and Current Album Sales charts, peaking at numbers 32 and 30, respectively.[33][34] On the genre-exclusive, Top Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums charts, it reached positions 12 and 20, respectively, also spending 1 week each.[35][36]

Track listing edit

Dreamcar track listing[6]
No.TitleLength
1."After I Confessed"3:30
2."Kill for Candy"2:54
3."Born to Lie"3:50
4."On the Charts"2:48
5."All of the Dead Girls"3:31
6."Ever Lonely"3:31
7."The Assailant"2:33
8."The Preferred"3:39
9."Slip on the Moon"4:00
10."Don't Let Me Love"3:12
11."Do Nothing"3:37
12."Show Me Mercy"3:45
Total length:39:10

Notes:

Credits and personnel edit

Credits adapted from Tidal.[37]

  • Tom Dumont – composer, lyricist, guitar, keyboards, background vocals (tracks 1, 5, 6, 9)
  • Davey Havok – composer, lyricist, vocals
  • Tony Kanal – composer, lyricist, bass guitar, keyboards, background vocals (tracks 1, 5, 6, 9)
  • Adrian Young – composer, lyricist, drums, background vocals (tracks 1, 5, 6, 9)
  • Tim Pagnotta – producer
  • Ted Jensen – mastering engineer
  • Mark Stent – mixing engineer
  • Adam Hawkins – recording engineer (all except tracks 2 and 4)
  • Brian Phillips – recording engineer
  • Michael Freeman – assistant engineer
  • Peter Mack – assistant engineer (all except tracks 2 and 4)
  • Gabrial McNair – keyboards (all except tracks 2 and 4)
  • Scheila Gonzalez – saxophone (tracks 5, 8, 12)

Charts edit

Chart performance for Dreamcar
Chart (2017) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[32] 115
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[35] 12
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[36] 20

Release history edit

Release dates and formats for Dreamcar
Region Date Format(s) Label Ref.
Various May 12, 2017 Columbia [5][6][7]

Notes edit

  1. ^ "Kill for Candy" was released to digital retailers on March 2, 2017, but Apple Music erroneously lists March 4, 2017 as the release date instead.[13][14]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Wood, Mikael (May 17, 2017). "How to revive the '80s (and how not to) with Paramore and Dreamcar". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Collar, Matt. "Dreamcar – Dreamcar". AllMusic. Archived from the original on June 23, 2018. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d Brennan, Collin (May 11, 2017). "Album Review: Dreamcar – Dreamcar". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on May 4, 2020. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d Camp, Zoe (May 25, 2017). "Dreamcar: Dreamcar Album Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on August 29, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d Dreamcar (CD liner notes). Dreamcar. United States: Columbia. 2017. 88985424732.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. ^ a b Dreamcar (LP liner notes). Dreamcar. United States: Columbia. 2017. 88985424741.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  7. ^ @DreamcarMusic (May 8, 2017). "Head to @newburycomics to get a signed copy of our album. Pre-order now: bit.ly/2qThEs6" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  8. ^ Toney, Jordan (March 2, 2017). "AFI, No Doubt Supergroup Dreamcar Release First Single 'Kill for Candy' – Listen". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on May 6, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  9. ^ Helman, Peter (April 19, 2017). "Watch Dreamcar Make Their Network TV Debut on Kimmel". Stereogum. Archived from the original on February 28, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  10. ^ "Video: Dreamcar Perform 'Kill for Candy' on Late Late Show". BroadwayWorld. May 12, 2017. Archived from the original on October 4, 2018. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  11. ^ a b Woolsey, Brittany (August 14, 2017). "Dreamcar Drives an Energetic Set Through The Observatory". OC Weekly. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  12. ^ a b Epstein, Dan (March 2, 2017). "No Doubt's Tony Kanal on 'Rebirth' with New Supergroup Dreamcar". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on August 15, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  13. ^ Baltin, Steve (March 2, 2017). "No Doubt-Meets-AFI Supergroup Dreamcar Shares Debut Song, Dishes on New Wave-Inspired Sound". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 15, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  14. ^ "Kill for Candy" (liner notes). Dreamcar (Promotional CD ed.). Europe: RCA Records, Sony Music. 2017. USSM11700086.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  15. ^ Young, Alex (April 3, 2017). "No Doubt/AFI Supergroup Dreamcar announces debut album and tour, share 'Kill for Candy' – listen". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  16. ^ Fadroski, Kelli Skye (April 3, 2017). "Watch Dreamcar's 'Kill for Candy' music video debut". Orange County Register. Archived from the original on October 23, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  17. ^ "Dreamcar Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Archived from the original on February 6, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  18. ^ "Dreamcar Chart History (Rock Airplay)". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 5, 2021. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  19. ^ Frankel, Ricky (April 10, 2017). "Dreamcar: 'Born To Lie'". PunkNews.org. Archived from the original on March 23, 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  20. ^ Smith, Lindy (April 14, 2017). "AFI/No Doubt Supergroup Dreamcar Release 'All of the Dead Girls' – Listen". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on February 28, 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  21. ^ Zummo, Frank; Young, Adrian (July 17, 2017). "Alternative Press Music Awards Red Carpet Live Interview with Frank Zummo and Adrian Young". Alternative Press (Interview). Interviewed by Chris Wall. Cleveland. Also, to be promoting, my band Dreamcar this year. I'm really excited about that. We got a new single coming out this week called 'All of the Dead Girls', and Davey Havok – his swagger – is gonna deliver. And we'll be there next to his side.
  22. ^ Masley, Ed (October 21, 2017). "The Killers were received like proper rock gods Saturday at Lost Lake Festival". The Arizona Republic. Archived from the original on May 24, 2021. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  23. ^ "Dreamcar makes their mark 'On the Charts' with new song". ABC News Radio. May 5, 2017. Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  24. ^ a b "Dreamcar by Dreamcar Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Archived from the original on August 6, 2017. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  25. ^ a b Renaldo69 (May 13, 2017). "Dreamcar – Dreamcar". PunkNews.org. Archived from the original on October 9, 2017. Retrieved February 19, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ a b c McLaughlin, David (May 4, 2017). "Dreamcar – 'Dreamcar'". Rock Sound. Archived from the original on October 16, 2020. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  27. ^ Smith, Brandi (May 8, 2017). "Review: AFI, No Doubt supergroup Dreamcar celebrates '80s new wave on debut". Riff Magazine. Archived from the original on September 27, 2020. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  28. ^ "Billboard 200 Chart: Week of June 3, 2017". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 24, 2021. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  29. ^ a b "Dreamcar Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  30. ^ "Dreamcar Chart History (Album Sales)". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 8, 2021. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  31. ^ "Dreamcar Chart History (Current Album Sales)". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 8, 2021. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  32. ^ a b "Dreamcar Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  33. ^ a b "Dreamcar Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 10, 2021.

External links edit