Sweden’s Pomona Dream Dream About LA

When I first heard of Pomona Dream I thought they were a band from Pomona, California. I recall a few instances where I excitedly told people about my incredible, home-grown discovery, and I even sent a couple of music links to a few fellow KCRW DJs with the subject line, “A Great Local Band,” only to send another email a few weeks later, apologizing for spreading misinformation, and feeling like a complete trainspotting rookie. In my defense, I think it was an assumptive error on my part, especially with all the jazz and hip hop influences in Pomona Dream’s music, to think that they were indeed a West Coast outfit, and not a band hailing from Sweden! Although, when I first heard the music, I recall a strong sonic connection to another Swedish band whom I love, Little Dragon. In retrospect, this connection should come as little surprise because both Little Dragon and one half of Pomona Dream, producer Ribbs, are from Gothenburg, a city which boasts a very strong jazz and hip-hop scene. The parallels between the two are palpable, and it is my strong guess that Ribbs and singer Sandra Bang grew up listening to a lot of Little Dragon and Koop.

Pomona Dream describe themselves as psychedelic hip-pop and I agree that it is quite an accurate description of their music, although I would probably add “jazz” somewhere in there, because Sandra’s gorgeous voice and melodies have a distinctive jazz quality to them. As incredibly infectious and catchy as the songs are, the overall vibe and execution are more bop than pop. And that’s a beautiful thing.

One of the more interesting things about the duo, besides their music, is the chance manner in which they met. According to their Facebook page, “A case of mistaken identities led the soundcloud bots to think that they were literally stealing music from each other and they both kept getting notifications about all the credits they were getting for each other’s music…” Well, one thing led to another, and soon Pomona Dream was born.

I have been playing the absolute stunner “You’ll Know (Hung Up)” for a few weeks now on The Lab and, frankly, every other chance I get, but the band has made their first single, “Gladdic Wox,” from their new EP Rainbow Milk (out May 25th) available to us as an exclusive download for 48 hours! Get it here!

Enjoy the track and come see them live on June 15th as they make their US debut at Desert Nights at The Standard Hollywood. They will be joined by a fiercely talented local hip-hop artist, Def Sound, and I will be providing the beats. The show is free and open to public. Pomona Dream are on at 8PM sharp. See you there!