Bad//Dreems were formed in the middle of 2011, after guitarist Alex Cameron had moved back to Adelaide following a stint in Melbourne as a member of indie-rock band Dardanelles.

Soon, the pair were joined by drummer Miles Wilson and bassist James Bartold, who had both played with Marwe's brother Wolfgang in the now-defunct band The Shiny Brights.

[3] Working with Johnny Mackay of Children Collide, Bad//Dreems recorded their first songs towards the end of 2011, releasing debut single "Chills" (paired with B-side, "Close2God") on 3 January 2012.

[7][8] In December 2013, Bad//Dreems were named as part of triple j Unearthed's annual Next Crop list, appearing alongside the likes of The Bennies, Cosmo's Midnight, and Gang Of Youths.

[9] Across 2014, Bad//Dreems played dozens of live shows, performing alongside names such as Regurgitator, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Violent Soho, the Scientists and Cosmic Psychos.

[11] In October 2014, Bad//Dreems embarked on their first US tour, performing eight shows between Los Angeles and New York City, and playing alongside bands such as Tkay Maidza, Dune Rats and Cloud Nothings.

Wells would later repeat this in May 2015 during the group's debut UK tour, and would later occasionally step in at live shows for several years to play rhythm guitar – in turn, freeing up Marwe to focus solely on vocals.

[13] The following month, the group made their debut as part of triple j's Like a Version series, performing a cover of The Weeknd's "Can't Feel My Face" with guest vocals from Isabella Manfredi from Sydney outfit The Preatures.

In an interview released alongside the record, guitarist Alex Cameron explained that Gutful saw the band trying to push towards more of '70s-influenced post-punk sound, with the focus being that of capturing the group in their live element with little additional production.

[24] In November 2019, Bad//Dreems again appeared as part of triple j's Like A Version series, this time covering the Warumpi Band's "Blackfella/Whitefella" alongside guests Peter Garrett, Emily Wurramara and Mambali.

In February 2020, the group hosted their own Fire Aid benefit concert, featuring appearances from Pond, Children Collide, The Mark of Cain and West Thebarton.

[31] The track had been recorded with Rory Attwell during their time in London, and was released in the aftermath of being forced to cancel a number of regional tour dates[32] due to restrictions imposed as a result of the pandemic.

The group took part in a number of livestreams during this time, including the Isol-Aid Festival, while Marwe also launched a semi-regular "Sunday Morning Songbook" series.

[41] Split System bassist Deon Salviero has since taken Bartold's place on the live stage, while Children Collide drummer Ryan Caesar briefly replaced Wilson during shows in early 2023.

On 3 March 2023, the group released "See You Tomorrow" and announced their fourth studio album Hoo Ha!, which was released on 19 May 2023[42] The band have cited a number of Australian and North American rock and punk bands of the 1970s and 1980s as their influences, with the likes of post-punk outfits the Wipers, Devo, Joy Division, Wire, and Television specifically informing their own self-described "rough and tumble brand of jangling rock and roll".

A review for second album Gutful specifically noted that the band "can go from sounding like AC/DC to Nirvana and even Billy Joel", while also pointing out that the record saw the group "transcend" their earlier post-punk influences.

[49] In 2020, frontman Ben Marwe echoed Cameron's statement, explaining that Doomsday Ballet was composed with the idea of sounding "less pub, more sort of avant-garde art rock".