Photo by Tammy Shine
Reunited Paisley Underground-era rockers The Dream Syndicate this spring will release their third album of the new century, a collection of new songs called The Universe Inside that’s only five tracks long but clocks in at nearly an hour, thanks in part to 20-minute opening jam “The Regulator” — which you can hear in its entirety below.
The new album, the band’s seventh overall, is set to be released on vinyl, CD and digitally on April 10 via ANTI- Records. It’s available to pre-order now via Amazon.com.
Bandleader Steve Wynn put The Dream Syndicate back together in 2012, enlisting original drummer Dennis Duck, bassist Mark Walton (who came on board after 1984’s Medicine Show) and guitarist Jason Victor. (Keyboardist Chris Cacavas, formerly of Green on Red, is now an official member of the band, too.)
The reunited Dream Syndicate released their first album in 29 years in 2017, a record titled How Did I Find Myself Here?, and a follow-up, These Times, in 2019.
Wynn and Co. are previewing the new LP with the 20-minute album opener “The Regulator,” a droning jam that finds the band assisted by Stephen McCarthy of The Long Ryders on sitar and guest saxman Marcus Tenney. It’s the longest song on an album full of long songs; the shortest track is 7 1/2 minutes long.
Of that epic opening jam, Wynn says in a statement:
“‘The Regulator’ is a microcosm of the entire record-It was just a formless, trippy mass as we all started playing together. There was an early ’70s 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.”
Below, hear “The Regulator” for yourself — and check out the album cover and full tracklisting.
The Dream Syndicate, The Universe Inside
1. “The Regulator”
2. “The Longing”
3. “Apropos of Nothing”
4. “Dusting Off the Rust”
5. “The Slowest Rendition”
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- The Dream Syndicate returns with new album ‘These Times’ — hear single ‘Black Light’
- Kendra Smith to reunite with The Dream Syndicate onstage in California next week
- The Dream Syndicate debuts new song ‘Glide,’ announces December tour of U.S.
- Listen: The Dream Syndicate debuts 11-minute title track to ‘How Did I Find Myself Here?’
- Q&A: Steve Wynn on The Dream Syndicate’s first new album in nearly 30 years
- Dream Syndicate puts vinyl release of 1988 live set up to a vote via Run Out Groove
- Dream Syndicate’s 1st new album in 29 years to feature Kendra Smith singing ‘perfect coda’
Steve Wynn IS rock and roll.