The Stayawakes – Pop Dreamz CD (Engineer Records)

The Stayawakes are a dream-pop quartet originating from Portsmouth, UK. Since their formation, the group released a couple of recordings, such as a debut single named Don’t Have To Live Thru This / Summer Suicide, another single called When Your Heart Dreams Of Spring, a debut full-length record named Dogs and Cats / Living Together, and a single entitled Down For Life. The Stayawakes also appeared on the third edition of Lamp Light The Fire: A Compilation of Quiet​(​ER) Songs, Vol. 3, a sampler published by Engineer Records sometime in March of 2020. Engineer Records announced a brand new recording by The Stayawakes at the closure of 2020, which will see the light of the day in the following months.

Pop Dreamz represents a second full-length album by this interesting group. It contains eleven soothing compositions that are exploring nearly all melodic subgenres of pop music. You’ll notice elements of dream pop, power pop, and pop-punk intersecting for dominance throughout the entire recording. However, The Stayawakes are also implementing melodic punk rock, indie, and alternative rock into their already interesting musical endeavors. Therefore Pop Dreamz showcases how pop music can be more than boring commercial elevator music. Quite the contrary, The Stayawakes are putting all the efforts into decorating their power chord progressions with the technically demanding polyphonous thematics. The group avoids simplicity, repetition, and the same old bland musical maneuvers, repeatedly performed by the vast majority of bands with similar musical interests.

Right with the initial beats of Pop Dreamz, you’ll notice these musicians are more than modern punk rockers, but experienced musicians who thought about every move while assembling this material. The outstanding guitar players are firing a full specter of arpeggiated harmonizations, energetic chord progressions, ear-appealing themes, and marvelously constructed solos. The rhythm section provides a stable foundation for these orchestrations through exceptionally performed basslines and drumming segments. The lead vocal is uplifting the entire atmosphere on an entirely new level, while the backing vocals are decorating certain moments with an equally brilliant performance. The Stayawakes are liberating thoughtfully designed melodies to the atmosphere with such ease, stability, and confidence.

Pop Dreamz will be up your alley if you’re into dream pop, power pop, pop-punk rock, indie, or alternative rock, but also if you’re desperately looking for soothing numbers cleverly arranged to stuck into your head for a while. Pop Dreamz comes on digipak compact disc, but it’s also available at all streaming services. The album will be also released on a pink vinyl soon. Head over to the Engineer Records for more detailed info about ordering.