“California Dreaming” is the lead single from the band’s fifth studio album, V. It was released on July 24th, 2017, and it peaked at #46 on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart and #21 on the Rock Digital Song Sales chart. The music video for the song was released on July 24, 2017, and was directed by Brian Cox. In this article by Scene for Dummies, J-Dog talked about the track:

It dissects both sides of California. You’ve got the glitz, glamor, sun, and surf. Then, you’ve got the super fucked side of people not being able to afford rent, celebrities being assholes, and that fake facade. We wanted to do a heavy song with a Red Hot Chili Peppers-esque chorus. It’s an old-school vibe explored in a new way.

In an interview with Loudwire, Johnny 3 Tears talks about the song:

I think for all of us, my whole life has been defined on some level by some of these things. Me and J [Dog], we grew up on Highland and Franklin, which is about three blocks above Hollywood Boulevard and the center of Hollywood. Now this area is unrecognizable now. We wrote part of the verse track, it’s like this used to be our city, and now, it certainly isn’t.

We always kind of felt that we’re the outsiders now. And there’s a huge aspect of that in that song where we grew up here, but this belongs more to other people than to us. I think that’s a big message in the song.

The interpretation of what California and what Hollywood is, you see the polarization now and the disconnect from the world of entertainment to reality and I think that disconnection is growing bigger and bigger every day and you see that especially in politics and these sorts of things. Not to get into those things, but there’s a separation between Hollywood and reality is growing more and more.

We’ve already written songs based on this subject. It’s odd enough because it still is a sticking point to me enough to go, “Hey, we need to write another song about this.” Or it inspires me or us to go down that road again. We’ll see how this whole thing develops. And I love L.A., and I love California, I love these places that I grew up. Obviously, there’s a huge sense of nostalgia. To be completely honest though, the majority, I don’t even recognize anymore.