Rough Dreams has just released, “From the Graves of Better Days,” an EP of songs covered to fit their signature punk style. These Knoxville artists have covered songs from Thrice, Grade, Lucero and Saves the Day. In this EP, Rough Dreams shows that they can display a range of punk sounds. The sound is overall energetic and heavy, but it explores a softer side of punk and rock which lends to its emotional diversity. Each song on the EP is reimagined in its own way, and the lyrics and original songs have lent themselves well to Rough Dreams.
Through Rough Dreams’ work with songs from artists that have influenced them, they give a glance into their own passion and love for music. Each song lends to the EP in a unique way, which makes it feel original. Through reinstrumentation and work with the songs, Rough Dreams has really put their own spin on every track on this EP, and each song was carefully selected to fit its reminiscent atmosphere.
The choice to open with Thrice’s “The Artist and the Ambulance” came from the song’s energy as passionate and hard-hitting. It’s a song that can hook listeners in all while displaying Rough Dreams’ skilled musicality. There was also a music video released to go along with this track. The momentum and energy of this track were kept up with a cover of Grade’s “Termites Hollow.” “This one translated to our sound very naturally, although it was definitely a step outside of our comfort zone,” vocalist and guitarist Chris Suggs says. Grade even reached out to Rough Dreams to show their support for this cover.
“Nights Like These,” originally by Lucero, brings a diversity to “From The Graves of Better Days.” This track is slower but retains Rough Dreams’ punky sound. It finds its way into the EP as a track that shows off Rough Dreams’ musical diversity and nods to their roots in Tennessee. Suggs states that, “Being a band from Tennessee, Lucero has been a massive influence on all of us, and we’ve each spent many nights drinking whiskey and listening to their records on repeat with tears in our eyes.” From this track, the EP finds its way into the track “At Your Funeral” by Saves the Day. This song was a track that Rough Dreams covered live at their first show and has been a staple of theirs ever since.
“The Graves of Better Days” EP is a nod to the past. It nostalgically delves into the punk and rock of the early 2000s. Each track was chosen to travel back into different areas of this musical timeframe. The music of the early 2000s’ influence is so prominent today and has greatly influenced Rough Dreams.
Rough Dreams is a four-piece band including vocalist and guitarist Jake Jones, vocalist and guitarist Chris Suggs, bassist Matt Isbell and drummer Paul Lowe. Jake Jones and Paul Lowe started Rough Dreams in the Summer of 2018. They planned to start a band that was reminiscent of emo with dashes of grunge and shoegaze from the late 90s and early 2000s. Pretty soon they released a debut four song EP with indie label Coffin Curse Records and hit the road for a tour. After playing over 50 shows all over the US, Rough Dreams signed with their current label 59 X Records.
Rough Dreams is currently working on an LP set to be released later on in 2021, but you can listen to their cover EP “From the Graves of Better Days” right now.
Author: Sage Plapp
Leave a Reply