Dry Cleaning live review: spoken-word rockers captivate Leeds audience
Over the past few years, a resurgence in spoken-word post-punk acts has swept the British alternative scene, with none capturing the essence of the subgenre better than Dry Cleaning. The band formed in 2017 after musicians Lewis Maynard, Tom Dowse, and Nick Buxton joined forces to start a new band together. Without a vocalist, Dowse attempted to convince his old friend Florence Shaw to join the band, with great difficulty. Eventually, she agreed to join if she could talk instead of sing, using fragments of diary entries, quotes from adverts and notes she’d written in her phone.
Dry Cleaning have enjoyed a steady rise to indie success since they released their debut single, ‘The Magic of Meghan’, which Shaw wrote after moving out of her ex-partner’s apartment on the same day that Prince Harry announced his engagement to Meghan Markle. After releasing two EPs, the band’s John Parish-produced debut album, New Long Leg, was shared in 2021, which was followed by Stumpwork in 2022.
In support of their new album, Dry Cleaning have embarked on an extensive world tour, taking to Leeds’ Stylus venue on Saturday, February 18th. The night began with Vermont punks Thus Love, an energetic trio that commanded the stage with impressive confidence, powering through tracks that had a group of men in the centre of the crowd cheering incessantly. Up next were Chicago indie-rockers Dehd, who possessed an overwhelmingly positive attitude which captivated the majority of the crowd, who squashed into Stylus’ overcrowded main standing area to get a better view of the cheery rockers.
Once Dry Cleaning were set to take to the stage, the venue was packed to capacity, with many gig-goers struggling to find an adequate view of the stage due to Stylus’ poorly-designed three-tier layout. With many people finding the only option to stand on the stairs in order to see, it was clear that Dry Cleaning could’ve sold out a larger and much more gig-appropriate venue, such as the 02 Academy in the city centre. Nevertheless, the band took to the stage to large cheers before opening with Stumpwork’s ‘Kwenchy Kups’.
The band found a perfect balance between new tracks and popular favourites such as ‘Scratchcard Lanyard’ and ‘Strong Feelings’ whilst finding time to play some even earlier cuts like ‘Viking Hair’ and the rarely played ‘Goodnight’. Each song was played exceptionally well, with Shaw delivering her lengthy spoken-word lyrics without skipping a beat. ‘Her Hippo’ was a particular standout, demonstrating the band’s instrumental skills, which often get overshadowed by critics in favour of Shaw’s (albeit excellent) dry wit.
Acerbic and full of energy, the beauty of the band is in their odd mishmash of styles. Angular guitar meddles beautifully with a heavy metal style of bass playing that is reflected in the outfits as well as the sound. All the while, Shaw confidently sits up top and remains effortlessly incomparable. With little effort, this makes the band a feast for the eyes and ears in equal measure, clearly coming together for the love of music and the joy of exultant originality. After all, how many bands are rattling off bangers titled ‘Gary Ashby’ and invigorating a crowd in the process?
Due to the nature of Dry Cleaning’s music, it’s unlikely that they’ll ever fill out stadiums or arenas. Yet, playing their biggest headline shows to date, the band proved that they’re more than capable of captivating a large crowd with their offbeat approach. From last year’s tour to this one, it is clear that the band are gaining confidence in front of a crowd too, relishing in the fun of it all the more, and even engaging in some comic audience patter this time out. The show saw Dry Cleaning on top of their game, suggesting that they can only go up from here.
