Dream Wife: So When You Gonna review – Shouty pop and so much more

Named after a 1950s romantic comedy starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, Dream Wife are a pop-punk trio who formed in Brighton and moved to London. They’ve clearly soaked up plenty of the maverick spirit of London-on-Sea, flying the flag for LBGT and non-binary rights, and creating a considerable splash with their shouty pop and a calling card early single titled Hey Heartbreaker.

So When You Gonna is their second album as well as the name of their podcast series, in which they invite contemporaries and fellow rebel spirits along to shoot the breeze and add to the considerable number of musicians and personalities, such as Jessie Ware, currently podcasting.

Opening with Sports!, Dream Wife immediately assert themselves as a fun and sassy outfit who cite their primary influences as alt-pop stars such as Be Your Own Pet, Sleigh Bells, Le Tigre and Grimes, alongside icons and household names such as Debbie Harry, David Bowie and Madonna.

Hasta la Vista dabbles in a more lush dream pop soundscape before the fun trash of Homesick. For all the in-your-face attitude, Dream Wife deviate from shouty pop quite a lot, especially on the closing torch song After the Rain, a haunting paean to independence and freedom of self-expression.

Dream Wife are an intoxicating mix of trashy fun and insightful commentary, sometimes combining the two brilliantly on tracks such as Validation. So When You Gonna is a fascinating and expansive collection from a singular band really coming into their own.