Dry Cleaning recommends the records that made them: “They’re cool as hell”
With some bands, you can clearly hear what their influences are. This can both be an insult and a compliment. Some artists do their influences justice, clearly wearing their inspiration on their sleeves while also adding elements of uniqueness to their sound. However, other bands make music that sounds like a carbon copy of the band that they call an influence, to the point it sounds like they’re writing for somebody else rather than themselves.
Then there are other bands who sound entirely unique, to the point that it becomes borderline impossible to name who their influences might be. Dry Cleaning is one of these bands. They have an indie rock kind of sound but with melodies catchier than the poppiest of pop music and some of the most poetic lyricism out there.
When you look at the band’s recent record release run and outstanding live shows, which are steadily selling out on bigger and bigger stages, it’s hard to hear their unique sound and not view them as a band that will just keep climbing. But how did they ever arrive at such a style of music?
Two bands were singled out during an interview: TV On The Radio and Guided By Voices. The band rightly points out that their influence may be direct or indirect, but they are undoubtedly two bands that stood out when they were growing up. While you might not be able to hear direct influences, some of the elements that the band talks about certainly shine through in their music.
Talking about Guided By Voices, Dry Cleaning reeled off some of their favourite tracks, “’Game of Pricks’, ‘Pimple Zoo’ or ‘Kicker of Elves’, it’s got that cool chorus that goes, ‘Kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kicker of elves’. When they first got on Matador, and they had the original line-up still… that kind of period, they did ‘Propellor’ and stuff.”
The band focuses explicitly on the melody contained in some of Guided By Voices’ music. “’Girls of Wild Strawberries’ I think is an incredibly beautiful song…” they said, “They seem to pack more melody into them than most bands do in an album.” This is certainly something that can be heard in Dry Cleaning’s music, as they can pack their songs with melodies, filled to the brim so that even with Florence Shaw’s monotone voice, choruses are easy to latch on to.
They pay homage to the debut album of TV On The Radio, too. Young Liars was released in 2003 and packed with a unique sound that took a lot of people by surprise. “I was really, really into that band when I was 20, 21, they’re cool as hell,” they said, “They really made an amazing sound together, they had a great sound.”
