The Dream Syndicate

The Dream Syndicate announce new album, share 20-minute psych-out "The Regulator"

Neo-psychedelic greats The Dream Syndicate are back with new album The Universe Inside which is out April 10 via ANTI-. The album was recorded mostly live and based on improvisational jams.

You can get a taste of this very different Dream Syndicate album via the jazzy 20-minute-long “The Regulator,” which features The Long Ryders’ Stephen McCarthy on electric sitar and is, according to frontman Steve Wynn, a “microcosm of the entire record.” “It was just a formless, trippy mass as we all started playing together,’ says Wynn. “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.” Watch the video, which was filmed around NYC, below.

The Dream Syndicate will be in Austin for SXSW and look for more tour dates to be announced soon.

Meanwhile, Steve Wynn paid tribute to David Roback who was in fellow Paisley Underground bands Rain Parade and Opal before forming Mazzy Star and who died yesterday at age 61. “It’s weird. I never knew David Roback that well,” Wynn wrote. “But I loved his songs and guitar playing and of course his band and mine shared a special time together. Matt Piucci of Rain Parade wrote this heartbreaking song when David left the band to form Opal with my friend and bandmate Kendra Smith. It hit me hard then and it still does today. And it’s strange and somehow sweet that I got to sing it only one week ago with Matt and David’s brother Steven in Oakland. RIP David Roback. We didn’t hang much but you were my friend.” Listen to that song in question, “You Were My Friend,” below as well.

the universe inside dream syndicate

The Universe Inside tracklist:
1. The Regulator
2. The Longing
3. Apropos Of Nothing
4. Dusting Off The Rust
5. The Slowest Rendition