Dry Cleaning -- New Long Leg: REVIEW

Dry Cleaning -- New Long Leg

[4AD]

When Dry Cleaning was offered a larger practice space than bassist Lewis Maynard’s mom’s house to write the songs for New Long Leg, they rejected it, and continued to practice in the claustrophobic crawlspace of Maynard’s mom’s basement. And if there’s any word to precisely sum up the sound of Dry Cleaning, it would be ‘claustrophobic.’ The band’s unique sound is an implosive mixture of chunky drum shuffles, churning bass rhythms, spastic guitar phrases, and comedic deadpan lyricism, culminating in a sound too big for the boundaries of music. On New Long Leg, Dry Cleaning presents an artistic contradiction, meshing densely disorienting performances with hyper-focused moods to create an album that is spine-tingling, mind-blowing, and foot-tappingly groovy.

Dry Cleaning is part of a wave of emerging UK post-punk bands in the past 5 years that embody what writer Ross Hurton of Line of Best Fit calls “expressionist rock.” Like their peers, Dry Cleaning’s sound is deeply-rooted in the work of UK punk pioneers--Wire, Magazine, and Joy Division--but tosses in a myriad of unique elements to build their distinct sound. Drummer Nick Buxton’s kinetic beats bounce like the dance-punk grooves of Gang of Four while Tom Dowse’s sharp freewheeling guitars ring of the apocalyptic stylings of 70s German rockers Amon Düül II. The instrumentals of New Long Leg are creative and catchy enough, but Dry Cleaning’s x-factor is in the vocals of Florence Shaw, whose offbeat deliveries and stiff prose lyricism is an unlikely complement to the madness of the music.

New Long Leg puts its best foot forward on the opener “Scratchcard Lanyard,” a taster that epitomizes everything that makes Dry Cleaning so exciting. Buxton and Maynard lay a groundwork of chugging bass and drums for Dowse to flourish with chameleonic guitar riffs and Shaw to spout biting quips taking the piss out of stale small talk and useless idioms. It’s on songs like this and “John Wick” where the band’s presence delivers music bigger than the sum of its parts. On the other hand, Dry Cleaning is so quick to switch up the mood and offer something slinky and warbling like on “Leafy” which jitters with electronics. The band has produced a tone that is distinct and memorable but doesn’t paint them into a corner.

I’d be hard-pressed not to comment on Dry Cleaning’s playchest of goofy one-liners and pointed commentary on New Long Leg. Unlike their ‘expressionist rock’ peers, Dry Cleaning’s lyrics are anything but direct, and are constructed of semi-rhythmic non-sequiturs in the vocal delivery of an irritable flight attendant. “Strong Feelings” is a favorite among music critics with its pointed but creative lyrics including nuggets like “Just an emo, dead stuff collector” and “I’ve been thinking about eating that hot dog for hours.” Shaw’s obtuse lyricism is head-scratching at times, but a deeper reading exposes that her unique verbal palette is inherently punk--not in its directness but in its comical criticism. “Unsmart Lady” is a satire of institutional sexism, using sharp psych guitars to draw out the feeling of gut-stabbing disgust felt throughout the lyrics. “Her Hippo” is another favorite where the sturdy groove laid by Buxton and Maynard rides under Dowse’s britpop-py guitar lines that shiver like a house of cards and Shaw’s flat phrases hiding the smoldering anger in her lyrics. (The man above, a name, a word/I get upset in the heat/I'm smiling constantly and people constantly step on me.)

My favorite aspect of Dry Cleaning is the overall unhinged nature of the music. When the swirling rhythm section clashes against the grinding guitars and vocals, make rock music that isn’t just cohesively hypnotic, but also charismatic as hell. Each band member gets to inject so much of their own personality into the music, and the whole album is just a lot of fun to listen to. You can feel from the songwriting that these tracks were built from expansive and colorful jam sessions, and the music is composed to be fun to play. Too often do rock bands twist the meaning of ‘band’, just to be a group of voiceless musicians who follow the guide of one director/songwriter that runs the whole show. And it’s this very aspect of full collaborative input mixed with each member’s unyielded bravery to play what is fun that makes Dry Cleaning a fantastic rock band, and New Long Leg one of the best albums of 2021.

8.8/20.

Listen To: “Scratchcard Lanyard”, “Strong Feelings”, “Unsmart Lady”

RIYL: IDLES, shame, Fontaines D.C., Black Country, New Road