Dry by name, extra dry by delivery, the post-punk south London band’s debut LP, laced with the spoken word vocals by Florence Shaw, is darkly hilarious fusion of stark guitar and stream-of-consciousness sardonicism. Scratchyard Lanyard, a standout track, was previously highlighted on our New Songs section, a parody of emptiness in endless entertainment. Dry Cleaning’s musical style is driven by the jagged guitar sounds of Tom Dowse and the throbbing bass of Lewis Maynard, with John Parish producing, and Shaw’s laconic vocals feeling both integrated and separate from the music, as if she is strolling through a background plodding storm, but there is always musical space for her killer-throwaway lines to reverberate. Spoken word is very much in vogue at the moment (see For Those I Love’s album reviewed), but her style is particularly from the odd box of that spectrum, filled with fragmental thoughts and observations, and utterly unexpected detail that jumps instantly into the particular.
“Got my shorts on in preparation for the hot, these idiots in trousers, they don’t know what they’re doing (Her Hippo). “If you like a girl, be nice. It's not rocket science. A tanned foot squeezed hopefully into a short boot. A Kerry Bog Pony” (Unsmart Lady). “I’ve been thinking about eating that hotdog for hours (Strong Feelings). “A banging pasta bake, Müller corner, onions, orchids, the smear test blues. Put a shawl on that mannequin mate. Can you imagine the rent?. I want big pearl.” (Every Day Carry).
But where does it all come from, so many distinctly detached but standout lines? The methodology could be summed up in Strong Feelings: “Just an emo dead stuff collector, things come to the brain.” But what about the emotions that fuel that collector instinct? Perhaps it’s all tight-lipped anger at he state of the world, an articulate hushed punk attitude is behind it all, revealed on closing track Every Day Carry: “I just want to put something positive into the world but it’s hard because I’m so full of poisonous rage.” Out on 4AD.
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