Hippo Campus - Good Dog, Bad Dream EP

Minnesotan indie-rock five-piece Hippo Campus embrace sonic chaos on their latest offering ‘Good Dog, Bad Dream’, an EP that bears the pressure of following up 2018’s phenomenal second LP, ‘Bambi’. As usual, the group do not try to replicate past projects and instead shift from introspective deep-dives to external exploration and evaluation, with each member pushing their creative boundaries and constantly trying new things.

Edgy, dissociative lyricisms create a manic aura on lead single and opener ‘Bad Dream Baby’ and raw instrumentals with tight vocal layering overwhelm the environment on ‘Sex Tape’, a track that thematically and sonically pursues reinvention. Snappy guitar and throbbing bass lines dance and twirl around a tight room throughout ‘Where To Now’, while closer ‘Mojo Jojo’ utilises stuttering instrumentals to evoke a hyperpop vibe. Not a single song here strikes home as a signature Hippo Campus work, but together the 5-track release embodies everything they’ve always been about.

An audible display of millennial confusion, this release is a sharp and concise forward movement that runs in parallel with the experience gained from side projects like ‘Lupin’ and ‘Baby Boys’; specifically, the alt-pop approach and maximalist production has been infused with their established indie-pop-rock melodies, merging the irrefutable appeal and addictive draw of both infectious elements.