A
ttheback-endof
2016, Bad//Dreems
guitarist Alex Camer-
on started a six-month
placementatahospitalinDar-
win.Asurgeonbytrade,theex-
perience,hesays,“changedmy
perspectiveonalotofthings”.
Whenitcametimetocompile
the artwork for the band’s second
album, the just-releasedGut-
ful, he and photographer Mclean
Stephenson spent Australia Day
driving around the Northern Ter-
ritory,hopingtocaptureavisu-
al representation of how the “di-
chotomy of that day” played out
in the Top End. Eventually they
arrivedattheHumptyDooPub,
wheretheyfoundaweathered
localcalledPete,whoseimage
nowgracestheLPcoverinstark
blackandwhite.It’sasnakedand
strangely confronting a photo as
theblackandwhiteshotoftwo
bruised and battered young men
that adorned Bad//Dreems’ 2015
debut album,Dogs at Bay.
“The first album, the front
cover summed up perhaps the
innocence, the naivety of youth,
touching on issues of male iden-
tity as well,” says Cameron. “But this one,
Ithinkthealbumismoremature,anda
more world weary album. This one is more
outward looking and looking more at what
was happening around Australia.”
Worldwearinessanddissatisfaction
with various societal and political ills ooze
fromGutful’s guitar-soaked pores. The
titletrack,forexample,featureslyrics
suchas“Hadagutfulofspeedandcoke/
Hadagutfulofyourracistjokes/Hada
gutful of Australia Day/Had a gutful of
the USA”.
“We’renotsayingthey’repoliticalsongs,”
saysfrontmanBenMarwe.“Idon’tthink
callingoutracistbullshithastobesome-
thingthat’spoliticallycharged.Ithink
that’sjustapartofbeingahumanbeing,to
know that that isn’t the right way to think,
in my view anyway.”
The success of Bad//Dreems’ debut
caughtthesingeroffguard.WhileCam-
eron,bassistJamesBartoldanddrummer
MilesWilsonhadallplayedinbandswiththingwewantedtochangewastomake
it a more Seventies sounding album,” says
Cameron.“So,adriersound,lessofthe
digital inflections of the Eighties and more
about the natural recordings of the mid-to-
late Seventies.”
The album was recorded over a two-
weekperiod,withCameronflyinginfrom
Darwin on weekends to lay down his parts.
Theband’sreluctancetotradeintheirday-
jobs for a full-time musical career – Marwe
is a landscape gardener, Wilson a graphic
designer, while Bartold works in the hospi-
talsystem–is,saysMarwe,onewayofen-
suring they stay grounded.
Adds Cameron: “We said at the start,
no one should be chucking their job in in
a hurry, cos we had all done that with our
previous bands at some point. And we
knewhowmuchpressurethatplacedonit,
andhowmuchthatthengotinthewayof
usdoingitfortheloveofwhatwe’reactu-
ally about, which is songwriting and play-
inginaband.”varyinglevelsofsuccess,itwasallanew
experience for first-timer Marwe. “Many
different areas were surprising for me,” he
offers. “Even things like doing interviews
withRolling Stoneor Triple M. It was
weirdthatpeoplewantedtointerviewus.
Ididn’tknowthathappened.”
The success of their debut was built
ontheband’sno-bullshitliveappealand
a misleadingly simple songwriting style
that,intrackssuchas“MyOnlyFriend”
and“DumbIdeas”,beliedasurprising-
ly rich aesthetic. The Go-Betweens front-
manRobertForsterdeclaredhimselfafan,
eventurningupatsoundcheckinBrisbane
oneday.“Itwashardtogetawordincoshe
just kept asking us questions,” says Camer-
on. “We [weren’t there] to talk about us!”
Foralbumnumbertwo,thequartetre-
unitedwithproducerMarkOpitzanden-
gineer Colin Wynne, the production team
that helmed their debut. The goal was
to steer away from the Eighties Oz Rock
sheenofthatalbum.“IfanythingthemainR&R
24 | Rolling Stone | RollingStoneAus.com Ju ne, 2017TheAdelaiderockersmakethepoliticalpersonalonsecondLP
BY ROD YATESNEW ALBUM
Bad//Dreems’ Home Truths