Yoko Kikuchi (vocals, guitars)
Ann Zakaluk (vocals, tambourine)
Casey Holford (guitars)
Julie DeLano (bass)
Tina Harris (drums)
Influences
Kristin Hersh/Throwing Muses, Courtney Love, Sleater-Kinney, The Geraldine Fibbers, The Muffs, Juliana Hatfield, Imperial Teen, the Deal sisters, and our friends.
Sounds Like
"The rapid-fire vocals are sweet and funny. If the Dream Bitches are angry, they save it for later. Everything here is delivered with a smile. How angry can you be while singing about shopping at the 99-cent store? In a decade where Nickelback and other yawn-inducing noise polluters clog the radio with angsty nonsense, this is a giant blast of fresh air." -J. Wallace, Indie-Music.com
"At once cutesy and clever, girly and rebellious, the Dream Bitches excel at crafting songs that are almost as oxymoronic as their name. The songs on Sanfransisters are bubbly and familiar-sounding, but underneath the melodic, dreamy exterior you’ll find lyrics that are caustically biting and as bitchy as the band’s moniker would have you believe... Sung fiercely, with standard riot grrl attitude, yet the fact that the ladies deliver them over jangly acoustic chords rather than aggressive electric riffs sets the Dream Bitches apart from their girly punk counterparts." -Jessica Gentile, Splendidezine.com
"[Dream Bitches are] relentless.. The words are fast and smart. The harmonies are ancient. You will wonder where you heard the melodies before (you haven’t). You wax nostalgically about an age of riot grrrl pop anthems that never really existed, and your idealization of the early 90s assumes flesh in Yoko Kikuchi and Ann Zakaluk."
-Dan Fishback, performance artist
"With subject matter ranging from long distance love to Halloween costumes, the songs on Sanfransisters are touching, clever and likely to induce bedroom dancing... a perfect punk rock campfire singalong."
-Andrea Benvenuto, girlpunk.net
"Dream Bitches captures the true spirit of straight ahead rock and roll: raucous, kick-out-the-jams catalyst without being dumb. The lyrics are as well thought out as they are catchy. I highly recommend Sanfransisters." -Frank Mazzetti, Stuyvesant High School english teacher
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New reviews!:
"Local band the Dream Bitches celebrates the release of its second album, Coke and Spiriters, a nicely ramshackle rock album with a cuddly sensibility reminiscent of K Records acts from the ’90s (with a very NYC sort of self-referentialism)."
-Time Out NY, 5/13/08
"Dream Bitches is a chick band that makes rocking good music. They have the raw, gritty, deskilled feel of garage rock, but paired with sweet female vocals for a little sugar with their spice. On their second album, they use pop sensibilities with rough garage and throw in some violins -- very nice. There are also a few acoustic tracks, which really help the listener focus on the amazing lyrical skills these ladies possess. This is a nice, versatile album that has a strong direction backed by true talent."
-Jessica Kizer, Kalamazoo Gazette, 5/7/08
"Dream Bitches exist somewhere in between folk music, punk, and playground rhymes. The obvious focal point of the band is the lead-singing-pair Yoko Kikuchi and Ann Zakaluk. This duo's ability to harmonize effortlessly and then move to the same melody sets this band apart from the thousands of other garage-inspired pop-punk bands. Beyond their skill, the lyrics are decently clever and catchy. In focusing on the two singers, it easy to forget that they would be left behind if it wasn't for the rest of the band, who are very serviceable at playing pop hooks that move forward at a decent pace. The end result is a very catchy garage pop (or "indie pop" if you are so inclined to use that label) album."
-WLURradio.blogspot.com, 5/5/08
Coke-and-Spiriters, the second album from New York’s Dream Bitches, is a combustive culmination of the band’s first five years making music together. Packed with snarling pop anthems and hyper-literate acoustic ballads, this concise collection captures the Bitches at their most vibrant and volatile.
Yoko Kikuchi and Ann Zakaluk, friends and collaborators since their tween years, began the group as a duo in 2003, each fresh out of art school. By the time their first album, Sanfransisters, was released by Olive Juice Music in early 2005, Yoko and Ann had recruited a backing band that would become an integral part of their sound and style. A playful folk-pop affair, Sanfransisters boasted jangly guitars, catchy choruses, and wry lyrics in the wordy tradition of antifolkies Kimya Dawson (K) and Jeffrey Lewis (Rough Trade).
Dream Bitches' sophomore release finds the now five-piece band sporting songs with bigger hooks and biting, schizophrenic subject matter. Where Sanfransisters celebrated friendship, the relationships chronicled on Coke-and-Spiriters are beyond dysfunctional; lyricist Kikuchi's narrators come out swinging on songs like "Bad Luck Bill" and "Maniacal Mechanic," and even sweet couplets like "You're as perfect as I want it / You're as pretty as they come" are spat out like death threats.
Despite the misanthropic lyrics, the music is far from introverted. Dream Bitches' sound has expanded tremendously since their last record—it's bigger, brighter, and bolder than before, a kind of brainy power pop that evokes forebears like the Breeders and contemporaries like Tegan & Sara. Kikuchi and Zakaluk's vocal melodies stagger and intertwine, and their intricate harmonies make every chorus soar.
Coke-and-Spiriters was recorded by Mark Ospovat at Emandee Studios (CocoRosie, Wooden Wand) in Brooklyn, NY, and produced and mixed by Casey Holford (Cheese on Bread, Daouets). It will be released by Recommended If You Like Records on May 20th, 2008, after which the band will play select dates throughout the United States.
Now available: Yoko Kikuchi / Casey Holford split EP (This Song/That Song)!!!
Get your copy at Recommended If You Like Records.
Also available at Sound Fix Records, 110 Bedford Ave, Williamsburg.
capones collage
THE "FULL BAND":
Yoko Kikuchi (myspace page) - guitars and vocals
Ann Zakaluk (myspace page) - vocals and tambourine
Casey Holford (myspace page) - noise guitar
Julie DeLano (of The Leader) - bass
Tina Harris - drums
Hey Yoko. So good to hear from you. Congrats on your new CD. We http://theprimatefiasco. com have one coming out a month after yours called "geek dreams". Bitches, geeks, we should tour together. Anyway, if we're not playing that night, I'd love to be there. G'luck
yes, i am indeed the sound fix intern of sorts! :) but I am also a beggars/matador street teamer, aka flier aficionado. could you give me some fliers for your sf show to pass around?
Hey, I'm a huge fan of your music. Rahim and I from Sorry Entertainers have already booked Jeffrey Lewis, Schwervon! and now Hugga Broomstik for some gigs in France. Is it possible to see you one day in our country ? It'll be amazing.
