These days, Alfie Agnew is a Maths professor at California State University Fullerton. Back in the 1980s, however, he was singer and guitarist with US punks the Adolescents, as well as DI along with Sean Elliot. However, while academia might provide a more regular income than playing music, it clearly isn’t anything like as much fun. So, for the last decade, the pair of them have been scratching that itch in their side hustle, Professor and the Madman, along with Rat Scabies and Paul Gray of the Damned.
Dreamworld is far from a group of punk veterans revisiting old glories though. In fact, its inspirations reach far further back than that. Indeed, its cover art, which takes a significant cue from the Beatles’ Revolver gives more than a hint of where their heads are at these days – and this is more than confirmed by tunes like “12 Strings and Tambourines” and the title track. Of course, soaking up psychedelic influences has been part of the Damned’s DNA since Paul Gray climbed aboard for 1980’s The Black Album and more obviously on a number of their albums since 1985’s Phantasmagoria. So, this is hardly new territory for Scabies and Gray.
In fact, this stew of baroque pop, Merseybeat sounds, backwards guitar and psychedelia is much more than a straight homage to the sounds of the past. Nevertheless, there’s no doubt at all what has influenced the songwriting on the Beatles-esque “Songs in my Head” and “Brand New World”. That said, Dreamworld doesn’t stay in one solitary lane by any means. “Mental tape” has something of the Divine Comedy’s wry cocktail jazz vibes about it, “Nuclear Boy” is full of lively punky pop sounds and “Temple of Madness” is like a proto-punk prog rock mash up. Ultimately, the album is a fun diversion rather than an essential purchase though.
