Dream Wife (band)

Lead vocalist Rakel Mjöll (b. {{birth based on age as of date|27|2018|08|31|noage=1}}){{cite magazine |last=Drell |first=Cady |date=31 August 2018 |title=Dream Wife Just Want to Dismantle the Patriarchy |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/dream-wife-punk-interview-profile-717662/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |location=New York City |access-date=18 November 2018 }}{{Dubious |Edits to Rakel Mjöll's date of birth|date=July 2020}} was born in Iceland and spent eight years of her childhood living in Santa Clara and San Jose, California.{{cite news |last=Carroll |first=Elle |date=16 March 2017 |title=Dream Wife Hops the Pond |url=http://www.sfweekly.com/music/music-music/dream-wife-hops-the-pond/ |work=SF Weekly |location=San Francisco |access-date=18 November 2018}} She also trained in jazz and opera as a teenager in Reykjavík.{{cite magazine |last=Lynch |first=Joe |date=8 March 2018 |title=Dream Wife on Accidentally Creating 'A Party Album' & Why Bands Are Like Marriages |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/8238687/dream-wife-interview |magazine=Billboard |location=New York City |publisher=Lynne Segall |access-date=18 November 2018 }} Somerset-raised bassist Bella Podpadec (b. {{birth based on age as of date|25|2018|08|31|noage=1}}) met guitarist Alice Go (b. {{birth based on age as of date|25|2018|08|31|noage=1}}) at a Mid-Somerset Battle of the Bands.{{cite magazine |last=Zyzda |first=Rachel |date=1 October 2018 |title=A Chat With: Dream Wife |url=https://www.anchrmagazine.com/interviews/2018/9/30/a-chat-with-dream-wife |magazine=Anchr Magazine |location=Chicago |access-date=18 November 2018}} The two women, and Bella who is non-binary,{{Cite web |last=Ways |first=Curious |title="I am not my body, I am somebody": Dream Wife on Roe v. Wade and creating safe spaces |url=https://www.hungertv.com/editorial/i-am-not-my-body-i-am-somebody-dream-wife-on-roe-v-wade-and-creating-safe-spaces/ |access-date=2022-09-01 |website=HUNGER TV |language=en-GB}} went on to attend Brighton University and in 2014 they formed the band as an art school performance project. The trio had the concept of forming a "fake girl band" and they recorded themselves composing the songs that they would eventually perform at an art gallery exhibition.{{cite magazine |last=Craighead |first=Olivia |date=8 February 2018 |title=Dream Wife rules and here's the proof |url=https://www.thefader.com/2018/02/08/dream-wife-rules-somebody-london |magazine=The Fader |location=New York City |publisher=Andy Cohn |access-date=18 November 2018 }}{{cite magazine |last=Corcoran |first=Nina |date=8 February 2018 |title=Dream Wife – Dream Wife |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/dream-wife-dream-wife/ |magazine=Pitchfork |location=Chicago |publisher=Condé Nast |access-date=18 November 2018 }} The film was shot in a mockumentary style inspired by This Is Spinal Tap. After graduation the band moved to London.{{cite magazine |last=Cooper |first=Leonie |date=22 January 2018 |title=Dream Wife – 'Dream Wife' review |url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/album/album-review-dream-wife-dream-wife |magazine=New Musical Express |location=London|publisher=TI Media |access-date=18 November 2018}}

The band's lyrics often tackle issues related to feminism, gender roles, body image and sexual objectification.{{cite news |last=Goggins |first=Joe |date=26 March 2018 |title=Dream Wife review, The Deaf Institute, Manchester: Sticking two fingers up at the patriarchy |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/dream-wife-review-manchester-feminism-setlist-new-music-a8274046.html |work=The Independent |location=London |access-date=18 November 2018}} Members of the band have cited influences such as Be Your Own Pet, Sleigh Bells, Le Tigre, Debbie Harry, Grimes, David Bowie and Madonna. During their live shows the band are known to enact a "bitches-to-the-front" policy where they ask the audience to part in order to allow women who wish to mosh together to move closer to the front of the stage.

In 2016, the band released their first self-titled EP via Cannibal Hymns. The EP was recorded at Go's parents' home in Somerset with her father on drums. The following year they released another EP titled Fire.{{cite magazine |last=Cliff |first=Aimee |date=15 August 2017 |title=London Band Dream Wife Have Made The Perfect Song For Leo Season |url=https://www.thefader.com/2017/08/15/dream-wife-fire |magazine=The Fader |location=New York City |publisher=Andy Cohn |access-date=18 November 2018 }} The title was in part inspired by the fact that all three band members were born under astrological fire signs—Mjöll and Go are Sagittarii and Podpadec is a Leo.{{cite magazine |last=Solomon |first=Kate |date=5 December 2017 |title=Performance Art Project Turned Legit Band, Dream Wife, Talk Spice Girls, Snail Juice and Bad Bitches |url=http://www.thebeatjuice.com/2017/12/05/performance-art-project-turned-legit-band-dream-wife-talk-spice-girls-snail-juice/ |magazine=Beat Magazine |location=London |access-date=18 November 2018}} That same year they toured Canada and performed at festivals such as the Iceland Airwaves festival in Reykjavík, as well as South by Southwest in Austin, Texas.

In 2018, they released their self-titled debut album to positive reviews: Joe Goggins of The Independent gave it 4 out of 5 stars and noted that "they released a self-titled debut record that doesn't for a second sound like a DIY endeavour; it's a polished, assured slice of melodic punk." Leonie Cooper of NME gave the album a 10 out of 10 and wrote: "God damn have we been waiting a long time for a band like Dream Wife." Emma Swann of DIY gave the album a 4 out of 5 rating and said: "Sometimes we get the bands we want: sometimes - like in the case of Dream Wife - they're also the bands we need.{{cite magazine |last=Swann |first=Swann |date=26 January 2018 |title=Dream Wife - Dream Wife |url=http://diymag.com/2018/01/26/dream-wife-dream-wife-album-review |magazine=DIY |location=London|publisher=Sonic Media Group |access-date=18 November 2018 }}

The band followed their album release with an extensive tour of Europe and North America, opening for The Vaccines and the UK, Sunflower Bean during some of their US and Canadian shows, The Kills on some of the other US dates as well as opening for the band Garbage in the UK, Germany and France.{{cite news |last=Streva |first=Virginia |date=24 September 2018 |title=Meet Dream Wife: the U.K. punk band redefining 'girl power' |url=https://www.phillyvoice.com/dream-wife-uk-punk-band-taking-on-girl-power-spice-girls/ |work=Philly Voice |location=Philadelphia|access-date=18 November 2018}} That same year the band performed in several cities in Australia as part of the St Jerome's Laneway Festival. In late 2018, Dream Wife embarked on their first headlining tour in North America.

The band originally toured with a drum machine, but have since toured with drummer Alex Paveley.{{cite news |last=Foster |first=Amelia |date=3 October 2018 |title=Dream Wife's feminist fury rocks the Entry |url=http://www.citypages.com/music/dream-wifes-feminist-fury-rocks-the-entry/495041961 |work=City Pages |location=Minneapolis |access-date=18 November 2018}}

In 2020, the band released their follow-up album So When You Gonna... to generally positive reviews. Helenia Wadia of the Evening Standard described it as "hearfelt and unapologetically outspoken."{{Cite web|date=2020-07-03|title=Dream Wife's So When You Gonna... is unapologetic and heartfelt|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/music/dream-wife-so-when-you-gonna-review-a4487811.html|access-date=2020-07-03|website=Evening Standard|language=en}} The album drew comparisons with several female-fronted bands such as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.{{Cite web|date=2020-07-01|title=Dream Wife – "So When You Gonna...' album review|url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/album/dream-wife-so-when-you-gonna-album-review-2699376|access-date=2020-07-03|website=NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs |language=en-GB}} Music critic Robert Christgau applauded Mjöli's insight into sex and romance from the perspective of a "minor rock star", "from the male-bonding pissoff 'Sports!' – 'Time is money/Never apologize/These are the rules' – to a finale called 'After the Rain' where she both craves and rejects a tenderness that can only be provisional in a line of work that keeps her on the move."

• IRL (Live in London 2020) (2020)

{{Reflist}}

• [http://dreamwife.co/ Official website]

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Category:All-female punk bands

Category:Musical groups established in 2010

Category:English pop punk groups

Category:English indie rock groups

Category:Rock music groups from Brighton and Hove

Category:2010 establishments in England