London quartet Dry Cleaning delivered their powerful 4AD debut album on Friday, New Long Leg, which expands upon Florence Shaw’s stream of consciousness lyrical wit and the band’s instrumental frenzies.
The band is an embodiment of internet commenters, self-help tutorialists, influencers and group chat gifs. The group harkens back to 4AD’s past, yet vocalist Florence Shaw’s lyrics could only be made for today’s listeners; her thoughts disappearing as quickly as an Instagram story.
In 2019, the group self-released two celebrated EP’s Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks and Sweet Princess. Dry Cleaning’s sound is reminiscent of post-punk groups of the past with minimalistic instrumentals and spoken word delivery but there was something notably different in Shaw’s lyrics. Instead of focusing on one topic or becoming overtly political, her lyrics took pleasure in describing the everyday realities of life but not looking down upon them, instead she is enthralled by them. Shaw would take her library of random thoughts, ad slogans and YouTube comments to heart while the band’s instrumentals enveloped them in feeling.
This formula is what makes the group’s debut album New Long Leg so inviting. The album is composed of ten tracks recorded in the Wales countryside amid the pandemic with the help of producer John Parish, best known for his work with PJ Harvey. The album was born out of an isolative world, filled with panic and uncertainty as the endless doom scrolls raddled our brains.
“You can’t save the world on your own, I guess,” says Shaw while a clocklike drum machine ticks away alongside Lewis Maynard’s motorik bass line and Tom Dowse’s unnerving guitar in tow on album opener, “Scratchcard Lanyard.” The track is the perfect entry into New Long Leg’s world. Shaw’s lyrical content acts as the curator of a museum hosting images of “Rio de Janeiro bouncy balls,” “a woman in aviators firing a bazooka” and “Mighty Oak” filters while threatening you.
These images of absurdity are littered throughout the album. Dowse’s guitar is given the most human qualities as his playing shifts away from the formulaic rhythm section. You can find Dowse coming into his own on album favorite “Her Hippo” where his guitar balances high strung, noisy bravado with cinematic calamity. Dowse’s guitar breathes life into Shaw’s deadpan vocals, allowing for moments of relief from the claustrophobic environment the album creates. You can find this in the Sonic Youth inspired dissonance of “Every Day Carry” where Dowse revels in pedal experimentation.
Additionally, New Long Leg Shaw’s lyrics provoke images of childhood nostalgia in the listener before subverting them. Based on the title, “More Big Birds” depicts a walk down a sardonic Sesame Street of Shaw’s making featuring “spatula pots” and “Kalishinokovs.” A warm piano echoes in the background in sequence with Shaw’s playful “Da da da da da” refrain. A reference to Elmo is even dropped on the previous track “John Wick,” which depicts the old art of channel surfing as you slowly watch your parents’ souls wither away as they face the screen.
While Dry Cleaning appears to be just another post-punk band, their maturity and embrace of mundanity shapes them in a different mold. There are no filters or trendy aspirations to be cool. Dry Cleaning’s New Long Leg is the feeling of sitting alone at the bar and being comfortable in your own skin.
Essential Tracks: “Her Hippo,” “Everyday Carry” and “More Big Birds”
Prerequisites: Young Marble Giants’ Colossal Youth and The Raincoats’ S/T