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BAD//DREEMS
announce album & tour,
alongside title track
‘ULTRA DUNDEE’

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Who is Ultra Dundee?

Bad//Dreems have never shied away from their unfettered exploration of the Australian character. More often than not, their focus is drawn to the weird, uncomfortable or sinister themes which underpin modern Australia, but are often left unexplored. ‘Ultra Dundee’, the title track of their fifth studio album, is no exception.

“What’s my name, tell me what’s my name?” asks vocalist Ben Marwe as he shapeshifts through a litany of characters on a hypersonic journey through Australian history, geography and urban mythology. It’s a portrait of our culture that is, like the best of Bad//Dreems songs, as invigorating as it is unsettling.

Who is Ultra Dundee?  Ultra Dundee is you.  Ultra Dundee is me.

Bad//Dreems fifth studio album, Ultra Dundee, is a crystallisation and extension of the vision that began with their seminal debut album Dogs at Bay and has continued over their four albums to date. Recorded earlier this year and produced in conjunction with Dan Luscombe (Amyl and the Sniffers, Courtney Barnett) at Mixmasters Studios in Adelaide, it will be released via the band’s own record label, Gutto Records on Fri 20 March.

Following on from ‘Shadowland’, the music video for the album’s title track, ‘Ultra Dundee’, was filmed at the Lower Light pub on the northern outskirts of Adelaide. Directed by Kaius Potter it is the second instalment in a series of clips which will comprise a short film based around the character, Ultra Dundee, played by Ben Marwe.

Bad//Dreems announce album & tour, alongside title track ‘Ultra Dundee’

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Having spent a large portion of 2025 touring, from their own sold-out Dogs At Bay 10th Anniversary Tour to supporting Grinspoon on their national 30th Birthday Bonanza, Bad//Dreems are match fit and raring to go with another round of high energy, sweaty shows. Performing songs from Ultra Dundee, alongside all the hits, Bad//Dreems will headline shows in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane across April and May next year, with all shows supported by The Pretty Littles. Plus, they’re cooking up something extra special for their hometown show in Adelaide, to be announced soon.

You can also catch them performing at Party In The Paddock in Tasmania, headlining Nice Day To Go To The Club Festival in Port Lincoln, South Australia and setting the tone at the remaining Grinspoon anniversary shows in December.

Revered as one of the most vital guitar acts in the country, Bad//Dreems have come a long way from their humble origins in an Adelaide whitegoods warehouse in 2012. Produced by Mark Opitz (AC/DC, INXS, Cold Chisel, The Angels, Divinyls), their debut album Dogs At Bay picked up nominations for an AIR Award (2015), National Live Music Award (2015), SA Music Awards ‘Best Live Act’ (2015), SA Music Awards ‘Best Release’ and ‘Best Group’ (2016) and was included as an honourable mention in Rolling Stone’s Greatest Australian Albums of All-Time. They drew plaudits from such diverse luminaries as The Avalanches and Cedric Bixler-Zavala (At the Drive In) both of whom chose the band as their Australian support act. Robert Forster of The Go-Betweens declared their song ‘My Only Friend’ “a masterpiece of Australian Rock”. The band followed this up with critically acclaimed albums, Gutful, Doomsday Ballet and Hoo Ha!, the latter of which garnered a nominated for ARIA’s ‘Best Rock Album’, placed at #2 on Double J’s 50 Best Albums of the Year and earned them a nomination for Double J Artist of the Year.

As well as taking inspiration from the isolation they felt growing up in the suburbs of Adelaide, Bad//Dreems’ song writing aims to strip away the veneer of comfortable Australian suburban life to reveal the bizarre, the dark, the twisted and the beautiful that lies beneath. With authenticity at its heart and a desire to challenge the status quo, Bad//Dreems capture the confusion and anger of their protagonists eking out an existence in today’s world (‘Cuffed & Collared’, ‘Low Life’, ‘Northern’), the suburban ennui (‘Desert Television’, ‘Hoping For’) and the terror of the angry (often male) mob (‘Mob Rule’, ‘Bogan Pride’). Whereas many of their contemporaries project their righteous anger outwards at the subject of their malcontent, Bad//Dreems vocalist Ben Marwe steps into the shoes of the protagonist, imbuing the songs with a unique cathartic quality – particularly evident in their live show.

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Their notoriety as an unmissable live act has seen them tour extensively across Australia, UK and the US, with Bad//Dreems recently taking their Dogs At Bay 10th Anniversary Tour around the country to play the seminal songs that have left such a lasting impression on their fans. When Dogs At Bay was released in 2015, it exposed the raw, unfiltered soul of Australian suburban malaise and masculine vulnerability in a way that few albums at the time dared to. With its gruff guitars, defiant swagger and undercurrent of existential yearning, Dogs at Bay wasn’t just an album – it held a mirror up to a certain aspect of Australian psyche. Beyond its sonic punch, the album’s deeper impact lies in its legacy: it gave permission for a new wave of Australian rock to be both literate and loud, introspective yet raw and rough, paving the way for acts like Amyl and the Sniffers, The Chats and Pist Idiots, and the resurgence of pub rock as a vehicle for storytelling. As guitarist/songwriter Alex Cameron said at the time “We wanted to show that it was ok to like football and poetry.”

Bad//Dreems have also vehemently voiced their support for truth telling and the recognition of the ongoing mistreatment of Aboriginal people, demonstrated by Dogs at Bay closer ‘Sacred Ground’ and the anthemic ‘Jack’ which deals with the whitewashing of Australian history, as well and their iconic triple j Like A Version cover of Warumpi Band’s ‘Blackfella/Whitefella’ featuring Peter Garrett, Emily Wurramara and Mambali.

So much so, the band’s 2023 tour through Arnhem Land with Jabiru group Black Rock Band, and their performance at the 50th anniversary of the Wave Hill Walk-Off at Kalkarindji’s Freedom Day Festival, played a large role in the inspiration behind the songs on their upcoming album, Ultra Dundee, which will be released on the band’s own label, Gutto Records.

Gutto Records ushers in a new beginning for the band, following on from band members Alex Cameron and Miles Wilson appearing on ABC 4 Corners episode Music for Sale in late 2024, where they discussed the difficulties many artists face to survive in the current industry. Now fiercely independent, Ultra Dundee will mark the second album release on Bad//Dreems own label, after their first release, the Quality Meats live album, sold out in just two days.

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BAD//DREEMS
presents
ULTRA DUNDEE 

Sat 18 April – Thornbury Theatre, Melbourne 
Fri 1 May – Marrickville Bowlo, Sydney
Sat 2 May – Brightside Outdoors, Brisbane

ON SALE NOW

*Special Adelaide show to be announced*

Buy tickets here

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Follow BAD//DREEMS
Website – Imstagram – Facebook – Spotify
Apple Music – Youtube – Merch

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AMNPLIFY – DB