Just in time for spring, we have a band who plays self-described “sun-drenched psychedelia.” Daydream Review is a Chicago-based band whose debut record, Leisure, is out today via Side Hustle Records. To kick off album release day, we asked the band to curate a playlist on nostalgia. Check it out below.
Oh, and, if you’re in the Chicago area, you can catch the band’s shimmering sound in action on April 8 at Cole’s Bar and May 26 at Schubas Tavern.
—Keenan Kush, Talkhouse Director of Operations
Who doesn’t love wandering the wonky landscapes of their brain, replaying fond memories and trying to remember the last bits of that surreal dream you were just having? It’s something that I’m maybe a little too indulgent in myself, and to honor the occasion of drifting off into some silly daydream for the millionth time, I’ve put together a playlist for Talkhouse attempting to sum up the sounds of nostalgia, memory, and dreaminess that I spend most of my time in.
— Daydream Review
Ken Griffin — “Marea Baja” (Song is from 7:40 to 9:53)
I don’t know anything about Ken Griffin. What I do know is that I stumbled across this song a few years ago and I adore the tones of this song: the organ, the amazing arpeggiated tone that starts it off. It feels like a fantasy land, like some dream you had as a kid.
Maston — “Infinite Bliss”
There’s something about contrasting a really clean and straightforward instrumental with a delay-drenched, incomprehensible vocal that I love. Sounds like when someone talks to you in a dream.
Broadcast — “Come On Let’s Go”
This song has always been fantastic, but it somehow makes me feel nostalgic for the future — things that haven’t yet happened, but the excitement that those possibilities bring. Not to mention, Trish Keenan deserves all the flowers and more for making such a mark on early 2000s psych and dream pop, too.
Miniature Tigers — “Pleasure Princess”
This song makes me feel a very specific type of nostalgia — specifically, when Kait, my wife, and I met and the music we would share with each other. “Miniature Tigers” was one of the first bands she showed me, and it was definitely a part of the soundtrack of our early romance.
The Beach Boys — “All I Wanna Do”
A beautiful, beautiful tune. I’ve heard this described as the first dream pop song, which is definitely apt, and fits that theme of dreaminess in a way that is maybe more precise than any other on this list.
Paul McCartney — “Ram On”
Similar to “Pleasure Princess” by Miniature Tigers, this was an early part of meeting my wife. While I had listened to all of the post-Beatles songs each member put out, Ram has a special romantic nostalgia that I think is really baked into the album as a whole. And so simple yet pretty, to boot! Classic Paul.
Billy Walker — “Funny How Time Slips Away”
Not going to lie, I first heard this in an episode of Better Call Saul. However, growing up in Texas, driving between different cities to visit family, this kind of song — dreamy pedal steel, slow, calm bass line, and a great crooning vocal — is probably the best kind of song I heard a lot growing up. Very much a “childhood nostalgia” kind of a thing to me.
Love — “Always See Your Face”
First off: Love is massively underrated. In my opinion, this is kind of in the same vein as “Come On Let’s Go” in that it almost feels like nostalgia for something-to-come. Not to be too goopy and romantic on a nostalgia and dream themed playlist, when you find the person that you’ve been dreaming of, nothing is better. But, as a counterpoint, what’s dreamier than true love, eh?
The Critters — “Mr. Dieingly Sad”
I only heard this one recently, but I’ve always found something inherently dreamy about this kind of lounge music that was, honestly, some of the best music of the ’60s. Lightly psychedelic, but not overtly so, in the way some of the Critter’s contemporaries were. There’s also something about this kind of crooning vocal style that I find so nostalgic and dreamy. The harmonies are top notch here too, great song.
The Holydrug Couple — “Atlantic Postcard”
Ending with a song that I am truly envious I didn’t write, but also served as a major influence on our album, Leisure. The cross-panned arpeggios, the simple and persistent drum beat — just a magical song. It’s a song and band I only found out about after moving to Chicago, and so it made me feel excited and dreamy all at once — a dream you chase after and pursue.
(Photo Credit: Kate Ford)
