Great neo-psychedelic indie rockers and Paisley Underground stalwarts, The Dream Syndicate, had a long gap of inactivity from the late eighties when they disbanded until the last decade when they reformed mainly for live shows, and later to deliver their fifth and sixth studio albums, as well as an accompanying record of outtakes, all released through ANTI- Records.
The follow up to 2019's These Times, will be the band's seventh full length, titled The Universe Inside. The album is introduced with a very much expansive and wide-ranging piece, the twenty-minute long The Regulator which explores further the band's relationship with mind-boggling psychedelia and jazz. The song features Stephen McCarthy of The Long Ryders on guitar and Butcher Brown's Marcus Tenney on saxophone, both adding to the song's substantiality.
The Dream Syndicate's line up is composed of Steve Wynn (vocals, guitar), Dennis Duck (drums), Mark Walton (bass), Chris Cacavas (keyboards) and Jason Victor (lead guitar).
"The Regulator is a microcosm of the entire record," the great Steve Wynn explains. "It was just a formless, trippy mass as we all started playing together. There was an early 70’s drum machine—a Maestro Rhythm King, the same model used on There’s A Riot Goin’ On—with Dennis locking in and setting the pace. Stephen grabbed an electric sitar because it was the first thing he saw. Jason and I were kicking pedals on like lab monkeys in a laboratory and Mark was a lightning rod, uniting all of those elements into one tough groove. I collected a list of random, unconnected lyric ideas that I kept on my phone. I tried them all out in random order in my home studio just to see how they would feel and that one-take test run is the vocal you hear!. There’s just so much lightning-in-a-jar, first take excitement on this record."
The accompanying clip for the song's full version is composed of vivid, urban scenes, and it was directed by David Dalglish.
The Universe Inside comes out April 10th, 2020 through ANTI- Records.
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Art by Alex Aliume
Artist photo by Tammy Shine
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