From the cover alone, of a woman having water, or at least I hope its water, being poured into her eye, you know Dry Cleaning mean business with the release of their third album Secret Love.
For the last five years or so sardonic vocals of Florence Shaw backed by the fine musicianship of Tom Dowse, bassist Lewis Maynard and drummer Nick Buxton, have carved a unique place in a post punk genre that still has some legs it seems.
This time around there is more of a funkier, pop feel and in places sounds a little like Ian Dury and the Blockheads on opener Hit My Head All Day.
There’s some nice guitar work from Dowse on Cruise Ship Designer, which is one of a number of tracks that borrow heavily from Gang of Four.
My Soul/Half Pint is among my favourites with Shaw almost giving us a melody in the chorus.
Other high points include Joy, which is delivered at a perfect-post-punk-pop length of under three minutes.
Dry Cleaning at Glastonbury 2022 (pic by Joe Lepper)
Let Me Grow and You’ll See is another high point, with more fine guitar playing to juxtapose with Shaw’s deadpan vocals.
Dry Cleaning’s original take on post punk is undoubtedly a key reason why they are continuing to outlive the post punk boom of a little while ago. Already it is a contender for our end of year best albums list, which their 2021 release New Long Leg found a deserved place on.
By Joe Lepper
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