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Dreamcar: No Doubt - Gwen + Havok

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Dreamcar consists of the members of No Doubt minus Gwen Stefani with Davey Havok of AFI on vocals.

The No Doubt guys wanted to continue writing music in Gwen's absence and thought of Havok. They invited him out to dinner, gave him four tracks and within 48 hours, he handed them back with the vocals and harmonies. He was hired.

The music is so damn catchy, even if it took me a couple listens to fully hook me. Actually, it took the Jimmy Kimmel performance to really sell me. I'm a huge AFI fan but only really heard the No Doubt songs from radio play.

Kill for Candy:
https://youtu.be/swS9tScMQyE

Born to Lie:
https://youtu.be/UkiMAu0TbB8

All of the Dead Girls (Jimmy Kimmel live):
https://youtu.be/_JtqChM93LM

Lovely stuff. Figured some folks may be interested in this and searching warranted no results. Kill me for candy if old.
 

Ninhead

Member
Davey Havok looks like one of the Mael brothers from Sparks.

I like this a lot more than I enjoyed any of either individual bands outputs.
 
I found out about these guys a little while ago, and I like their output. I really dig the 80s-esque soundscape they're playing with. (Personally, though, I thought No Doubt was just fine as a ska band. I wish they would have just found a new lead and just gone with it.)
 

Fisty

Member
Lol man it's crazy to see how much Davey's look has changed since Black Sails. Love that Ed Wood mustache he's got going on
 

chris121580

Member
I'm really digging this. Kill for Candy is kind of a grower but the other 2 are catchy as hell. I've always been a big No Doubt fan
 
I'm really digging this. Kill for Candy is kind of a grower but the other 2 are catchy as hell. I've always been a big No Doubt fan
It was the opposite for me. I think the mistake was reading lyrics for a first listen.

This is not a dig on the lyrics. It's just hard to get a feel for the song when I'm reading along for the first time.
 

Faiz

Member
*gets excited*

*listens*

Ok, glad the guys are making music together, but this isn't for me. Hope they do well.

(Personally, though, I thought No Doubt was just fine as a ska band. I wish they would have just found a new lead and just gone with it.)

👏*highfive*👏
 

Jinaar

Member
Wow, thanks for this information. The latest AFI album blew me away and getting more Davey is always great, no complaints with the combination with No Doubt. Will review this on Spotify shortly but thanks for the Youtube links to begin with.
 
I'm not ashamed to admit that I skimmed the topic and I thought this was a new Marvel book about these two:
Bvp3WQKIEAAU8bx.jpg

latest
 
Wow, thanks for this information. The latest AFI album blew me away and getting more Davey is always great, no complaints with the combination with No Doubt. Will review this on Spotify shortly but thanks for the Youtube links to begin with.
No prob.

Here's a music video for Kill for Candy:
https://youtu.be/sj_fc6bG8aE

I'm not ashamed to admit that I skimmed the topic and I thought this was a new Marvel book about these two:
Hahaha. Whoops.
 
Cool to see that GAF has a thread about these guys

Grew up listening to No Doubt but yeah, obviously that's in the past

Actually saw Davey Havok with AFI like back in '01 at a show.

Anyway, lovin' what i'm hearing as yeah, this is such a fucking wonderful 80s throwback and goddamn are Havok's vocal's on point. Can't wait to buy the album next week!
 

Aesthet1c

Member
Was initially stoked because I love No Doubt, but this didn't do anything for me. Kind of a bummer, I thought for sure without Gwen they would go back to playing ska.
 

CDX

Member
Wow. I didn't know the No Doubt guys were doing this.

These songs didn't sound anything like I was expecting them to. ...I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I'm actually liking the 80s vibe these songs have.
 

EYEL1NER

Member
It doesn't sound bad at all but I don't know if I like it yet. If I put it next to other non-AFI Havok projects, it isn't as good as Blaqk Audio and it doesn't even come close to the greatness of Son of Sam. I'll give it some more listens soon though. I buy a lot of Davey's stuff, whether I like/listen to it or not, so I'll probably pick up the cd at some point anyway.
 
Wow. I didn't know the No Doubt guys were doing this.

These songs didn't sound anything like I was expecting them to. ...I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I'm actually liking the 80s vibe these songs have.

Yeah, Tony and the rest of the crew have always flirted with 80s sounding tracks in No Doubt (which makes sense as that's the era they mostly grew up in), but with Dreamcar, they're going full 80s now :)
 
I honestly love everything I've heard from this project. It doesn't sound like either of the bands they're from (which is fine by me because I don't care for post 90s AFI)

Excited for the full release
 

Faiz

Member
Was initially stoked because I love No Doubt, but this didn't do anything for me. Kind of a bummer, I thought for sure without Gwen they would go back to playing ska.

I miss that early sound too, but we're putting too much "blame" on Stefani if we think she's the only reason the sound changed.
 
Should've gotten another female vocalist. Yeah, she would've been compared to Gwen, but I feel like the combination sounded much more unique and better overall
 

Aesthet1c

Member
I miss that early sound too, but we're putting too much "blame" on Stefani if we think she's the only reason the sound changed.

You're right, I probably mispoke assuming she was the primary reason since her solo stuff is %100 pop.

Still wish we could get that ska No Doubt back.
 

Dali

Member
Not really feeling the lead singer. I like the rest of the songs and feel like the lyrics are fun but the guy singing just doesn't fit. I pictured gwen singing them and I felt I could really like them. Doesn't really even have to be gwen, but this guy isn't it.
 
It doesn't sound bad at all but I don't know if I like it yet. If I put it next to other non-AFI Havok projects, it isn't as good as Blaqk Audio and it doesn't even come close to the greatness of Son of Sam. I'll give it some more listens soon though. I buy a lot of Davey's stuff, whether I like/listen to it or not, so I'll probably pick up the cd at some point anyway.
You know, funny you mention Son of Sam. Because of Dreamcar, I've been thinking of SoS and this old interview with London May describing what it was like working with Davey. When I first saw it, it gave me a whole new appreciation for his contributions to the works he's involved with and no doubt (hurrr) that this is still true with DC.


https://youtu.be/jwpO3ordqBM?t=45m
(@45 mins if the timestamp didn't work)
 

jon_dojah

Banned
Album comes out today. I havent bought music in a loooong time but will get this. They've been my new favorite band the past few weeks.
 

valeo

Member
I always thought Havok was one of the worst singers of that era (along with the guys from Thursday and Taking Back Sunday) and this doesn't change my opinion.
 

The Rizza

Member
Came in expecting a weird mix of No Doubt ska with rapping by Havoc of Mobb Deep. Then reread it as Havok and had to look him up. Don't know what I was reeeally expecting, but will still give this a listen
 
AFI fan, just getting around to checking this album out. I heard one of the singles and it gave me a Duran Duran(?) type vibe so decide to delve into the rest of the album. So far so good, pretty chill. I'm liking it.

Though to be fair. I loved Blaqk Audio as well so I'm a bit used to Havok's vocals and drastic shift in genres. I really could listen to the guy sing almost anything. I could just be easily pleased. :)
 
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