British post-punk bands – Page 2

Dry Cleaning release double A-side single – “Bug Eggs / Tony Speaks!”

Dry Cleaning is “one of the most exciting bands in rock” (Rolling Stone). Earlier this spring, they released their debut album New Long Leg via 4AD, which has already become one of the best records of 2021 thus far. Following praise from The New York Times, Pitchfork, Entertainment Weekly, The FADER, Esquire, and more, and preceding their completely sold out fall US tour, they today present a special one-off double A-side single, “Bug Eggs” b/w “Tony Speaks!” Recorded at Rockfield Studios in July and August 2020 during the same session for New Long Leg, “Bug Eggs” and “Tony Speaks!” were previously only available in an expanded Japanese edition of the album. Explaining the two tracks Florence Shaw says, “’Bug Eggs’ is about the confidence that comes with age, fragility and sexual desire. The lyrics to ‘Tony Speaks!’ were written days after the Conservative party won the December 2019 UK election. I was thinking about climate change, environmental catastrophes and political campaigning.”

Listen to Dry Cleaning’s “Bug Eggs” b/w “Tony Speaks!”

Born from the combined creative talents of Nick Buxton (drums), Tom Dowse (guitar), Lewis Maynard (bass) and Florence Shaw (vocals), Dry Cleaning’s debut album New Long Leg was produced by John Parish at Rockfield Studios and features the singles “Scratchcard Lanyard,” “Strong Feelings” and “Unsmart Lady.” Intertwining Shaw’s spoken vocals tightly with the band’s restless instrumentals they extract the meaning from the most trivial things; little witty asides about supermarkets, cupboards, beauty products and body parts add up to sonic landscapes that teem with the strange magic of ordinary life.

Stream/Purchase New Long Leg

Watch the “Scratchcard Lanyard” Video

Watch the “Strong Feelings” Video

Watch the “Unsmart Lady” Video

Dry Cleaning Tour Dates
Wed. Nov. 10 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram – SOLD OUT
Thu. Nov. 11 – San Francisco, CA @ Chapel – SOLD OUT
Sat. Nov. 13 – Portland, OR @ Vitalidad – SOLD OUT
Sun. Nov. 14 – Seattle, WA @ Crocodile – SOLD OUT
Tue. Nov. 16 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle – SOLD OUT
Wed. Nov. 17 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle – SOLD OUT
Fri. Nov. 19 – Brooklyn, NY @ Market Hotel – SOLD OUT
Sat. Nov. 20 – Brooklyn, NY @ Market Hotel – SOLD OUT
Wed. Jan. 19, 2022 – Paris, FR @ La Maroquinerie *
Thu. Jan. 20, 2022 – Lyron, FR @ Le Périscope *
Fri. Jan. 21, 2022 – Milan, IT @ Circolo Magnolia *
Sat. Jan. 22, 2022 – Bologna, IT @ Covo Club *
Mon. Jan. 24, 2022 – Vienna, AT @ Chelsea *
Tue. Jan. 25, 2022 – Prague, CZ @ Futurum *
Wed. Jan. 26, 2022 Berlin, DE @ Zukunft am Ostkreuz *
Fri. Jan. 28, 2022 – Copenhagen, DK @ Loppen *
Sat. Jan. 29, 2022 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotow *
Mon. Jan. 31, 2022 – Nijmegen, NL @ Doornroosje *
Tue. Feb. 1, 2022 – Brussels, BE @ Orangerie, Botanique *
Wed. Feb. 2, 2022 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Noord *
Fri. Feb. 4, 2022 – Rotterdam, NL @ Rotown *
Sat. Feb. 5, 2022 – Tourcoing (Lille), FR @ Le Grand Mix *
Mon. Feb. 14, 2022 – Liverpool, UK @ Arts Club Theatre %
Tue. Feb. 15, 2022 – Dublin, IE @ The Button Factory – SOLD OUT %
Wed. Feb. 16, 2022 – Belfast, IE @ Empire Music Hall %
Fri. Feb. 18, 2022 – Edinburgh, UK @ Summerhall (Venue upgrade) – SOLD OUT %
Sat. Feb. 19, 2022 – Glasgow, UK @, Queen Margaret Union (Venue upgrade) %
Sub. Feb. 20, 2022 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club – SOLD OUT %
Tue. Feb. 22, 2022 – Birmingham, UK @ The Mill %
Wed. Feb. 23, 2022 – Bristol, UK @ SWX %
Fri. Feb. 25, 2022 – Manchester, UK @ Academy 2 %
Sat. Feb. 26, 2022 – Sheffield, UK @ Leadmill %
Sun. Feb. 27, 2022 – Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms %
Tue. March 1, 2022 – Portsmouth, UK @ Wedgewood Rooms %
Wed. March 2, 2022 – Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2 %
Thu. March 3, 2022 – London, UK @ O2 Forum Kentish Town %

* = w/ Maria Somerville
% = w/ PVA

Keep your mind open.

[Hop on over to the subscription box while you’re here.]

[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Squid – Bright Green Field

Roaring in from London, Squid combine post-punk, art-punk, straight-up punk, no wave, jazz, and probably five other genres they enjoy into a cool, quirky record – Bright Green Field.

After a brief instrumental opener (“Resolution Square”), the album bops and funks with “G.S.K.” Saxophone honks, psychedelic bass, bright synths, and processed drums mix as Ollie Judge sings about the travails of staying up all night and getting into a car wreck. “I tried real hard. I think I made it up,” they say at the beginning of “Narrator.” The bass and guitar on it dance all over the place in it as the song explores taking control of one’s life amid external forces trying to control every aspect of what we consume. The song evolves into a wild, Pink Floyd-like psychedelic freak-out complete with Martha Skye Murphy screaming like she’s in a horror film one moment and in orgasmic throes the next.

You’re completely impressed with Laurie Nankivell‘s bass work by the time you get to “Boy Racers.” He has a way of playing that almost sounds like he’s doing whatever the hell he wants but yet fitting in perfectly with what the rest of the band is doing. The song becomes a weird, psychedelic, synth-heavy trip about halfway through its length, and I’m all for it. The build-up at the beginning of “Padding” is outstanding, as the band sings / chants, “Patient and in control…Dig holes like a mole…Patient and oars in stow…Just do what you’re told.” Louis Borlase and Anton Pearson chug out post-punk guitar stabs over Judge’s racing heartbeat drums when the song kicks into high gear.

“Documentary Filmmaker” has strange, warped horns and is pretty much a free-flow jazz tune, which makes sense when you consider that the members of Squid bonded over ambient jazz. “2010” is a crazy, prog-rock-inspired track that bounces back and forth between Arthur Leadbetter‘s spacey jazz keyboards and the rest of his bandmates playing proto-funk to wild cymbal crashes from Judge and crazy guitar swells from Borlase and Pearson.

“Where were you when the ice came to town? Where were you when the ice came around? You don’t remember? You don’t remember!”, Judge sings / yells on “Perry St.” – a song that could be about turning a blind eye to bigotry, but don’t quote me on that. I can tell you for certain that it’s a rocker, however. They don’t hold back much, even when the song hits the brakes and becomes a simmering pot of jazz / prog / post-punk stew. “I’m so sick and tired of dancing,” Judge proclaims on “Global Groove.” It’s interesting that he would write that lyric in the last year or so, when none of us could go out dancing and were doing all our dancing in the kitchen, while doing laundry, or with our pets as somewhat-reluctant partners. The song samples canned laughter and the guitars seem to be crying one moment and yawning the next – summing up the groove the entire globe has been in for a long time. Judge acknowledges this pandemic funk further on the closing track, “Pamphlets.” He growls about not wanting to leave the house, or even needing to thanks to all the pamphlets left on his doorstep claiming everything can be brought to him – food, entertainment, you name it. He’s become a hermit due to forces beyond his control, but he’s not sure if he wants to re-emerge into the world (“Legs still, but the herd is in motion.”). Squid predicted “re-entry anxiety” before it became a buzzword.

Squid predicted, and confronts, a lot of 2021 angst on Bright Green Fields. It’s one of the sharpest albums of the year so far.

Keep your mind open.

[No pamphlets, just e-mail updates when you subscribe.]

[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Rewind Review: Dry Cleaning – Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks (2019)

Released not long after their first EP, Sweet Princess, Dry Cleaning‘s Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks further intrigued post-punk fans in the United Kingdom and around the world with its hypnotic, mostly spoken-word lyrics and wild, angular sounds.

The Cure-like bass of “Dog Proposal” gives way to jangly guitars and vocals about working one hundred-hour weeks and trying to break out of the daily grind (“I’ve joined a gym near the office!”) seem to come from a different place, physically and mentally, than the instruments. “Viking Hair” is a story of a stunning woman who’s “a tragic heroine” when it comes to her love life. The band throws Joy Division guitars at you while the lyrics grab you by the back of your brain.

“I’m cool with spoils,” sings Florence Shaw on “Spoils” while Lewis Maynard lays down a great, heavy bass line and Tom Dowse‘s guitar tilts back and forth between buzzsaw and police car siren. “Stream, stream, stream my favorite shows. Just tell me who dies and who finds love,” Shaw sings / speaks. Even she is tired of the endless scrolling of streaming TV.

“Jam after School” is a weird and cool mix of school gossip and what sounds like a clinic on how to create a good post-punk single. “Sombre One” has an appropriate title, as it’s just Shaw’s sparse vocals (“Can’t seem to get out of bed easy.”, “Snacks and drinks, closed space, get rid of photos.”, “Move into the caravan park and be done with it.”), Dowse’s sparse guitar notes, Nick Buxton‘s hand percussion, and strange samples. The closer “Sit Down Meal” has Shaw stating, “You’re nothing but a fragrance to me now.” I’m not sure which is harsher: Her verbal smackdown or the band’s killer, almost swaggering hooks and chops.

It’s a sharp EP that left everyone clamoring for more material from Dry Cleaning. Thankfully, New Long Leg came out earlier this year.

Keep your mind open.

[Bound on over to the subscription box while you’re here.]

Squid release “Pamphlets” ahead of new album due May 7th.

Next Friday, May 7th, Squid will release their debut album, Bright Green Field, via Warp Records. Ahead of its release, they present a new single, “Pamphlets,” and announce their first-ever US tour. Squid have long been praised for their kinetic live shows, recently being named one of the best bands at SXSW 2021 by The New York Times and Paste. New single “Pamphlets” further previews this energy. It “concludes [Bright Green Field] with eight minutes of Can-ish skyward populsion – the delirious release which justifies all the foregoing tension” (MOJO). Squid drummer and lyricist Ollie Judge elaborates: “It’s about all the rubbish right-wing propaganda you get through your front door. It imagines a person with that as their only source of news being taken over by these pamphlets.”

Listen to Squid’s “Pamphlets”

Each single – “Pamphlets,” “Paddling,” and “Narrator” – shows that Bright Green Field is a debut of towering scope and ambition. Produced by Dan Carey, Bright Green Field is deeply considered, paced and intricately constructed. The five band members – Louis Borlase (guitars/vocals), Oliver Judge (drums/vocals), Arthur Leadbetter (keyboards/strings/ percussion), Laurie Nankivell (bass/brass) and Anton Pearson (guitars/vocals) – worked as a unit, playing an equal and vital role in its creation.

Squid’s music has often been a reflection of the tumultuous world we live in. As an album title, Bright Green Field conjures an almost tangible imagery of pastoral England. However, it’s something of a decoy that captures the band’s fondness for paradox and juxtaposition. Although the geography of Bright Green Field is an imaginary cityscape built from monolithic concrete buildings and dystopian visions, it’s also a joyous and emphatic record that marries the uncertainties of the world with a curious sense of exploration.

Watch the “Narrator” feat. Martha Skye Murphy Video

Listen to “Paddling”

Pre-order Bright Green Field

Squid Tour Dates
Tue. Sept. 7 – Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2
Thu. Sept. 9 – Bristol, UK @ Marble Factory
Fri. Sept. 10 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
Thu. Sept. 23 – London, UK @ Printworks
Fri. Sept. 24 – Birmingham, UK @ The Crossing
Sat. Sept. 25 – Nottingham, UK @ Rock City
Mon. Sept. 27 – Newcastle, UK @ NUSU
Tue. Sept. 28 – Glasgow, UK @ SW3
Wed. Sept. 29 – Belfast, UK @ Empire
Thu. Sept. 30 – Dublin, IE @ Button Factory
Sun. Oct. 3 – Cardiff, UK @ Tramshed
Mon. Oct. 4 – Southampton, UK @ 1865
Tue. Oct. 5 – Exeter, UK @ The Phoenix
Thu. Oct. 7 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
Fri. Oct. 8 – Brussels, BE @ Botanique
Sat. Oct. 9 – Paris, FR @ Trabendo
Mon. Oct. 11 – Cologne, DE @ Bumann & Sohn
Tue. Oct. 12 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotow Skybar
Fri. Oct. 15 – Malmo, SE @ Plan B
Sat. Oct. 16 – Stockholm, SE @ Melodybox
Mon. Oct. 18 – Berlin, DE @ Berghain Kantine
Tue. Oct. 19 – Prague, CZ @ Underdogs’
Thu. Oct. 21 – Munich, DE @ Heppel & Ettlich
Sat. Oct. 23 – Zurich, CH @ Bogen F
Sun. Oct. 24 – Düdingen, CH @ Bad Bonn
Mon. Oct. 25 – Milan, IT @ Magnolia
Tue. Oct. 25 – Bologna, IT @ Locomotiv
Thu. Oct. 28 – Barcelona, ES @ Upload
Fri. Oct. 29 – Madrid, ES @ Independence
Sat. Oct. 30 – Vigo, ES @ Masterclub
Tue. Nov. 9 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
Wed. Nov. 10 – New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
Fri. Nov. 12 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern
Sat. Nov. 13 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
Wed. Nov. 17 – Los Angeles, CA @ Moroccan Lounge
Fri. Nov. 19 – Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room
Sat. Nov. 20 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
Mon. Nov. 22 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
Tue. Nov. 23 – Seattle, WA @ Crocodile

Keep your mind open.

[No pamphlets here, just music news and reviews when you subscribe.]

[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

The Early Mornings embrace the ordinary on their new single – “Blank Sky.”

The Early Mornings are a 3-piece formed in Manchester in 2018, made up of Annie Leader – Guitar/Vocals, Danny Shannon – Bass, Rhys Davies – Drums. After recording a couple of home demos and gigging around the UK, they released their debut single ‘Artificial Flavour’ last year.

Today they share a gritty post-punk new track ‘Blank Sky’, that sits with the likes of Dry Cleaning, Mush, Cate Le Bon, and Porridge Radio, who have become inspiring names in the UK. It comes with a candidly shot video that shows the genuine streets and skies of Manchester, the perfect backdrop for the wiry guitars and deadpan vocals. They also announce their debut EP Unnecessary Creation which will be self released on Friday 18th June 2020.

Watch the self-directed video for ‘Blank Sky’ HERE

Within the band is a duality of love for both pop melodies and angular guitars. The lyrics begin as poetry which Annie then selects lines from, almost in the style of a Dadaist cut-up, to fit each song. What results is something entirely new, extricated from any previous context and devoid of preconception. If the listener wants meaning they will have to find it themselves amongst the fragmented observations, existing somewhere between nonsense and profundity, the personal is the political.

On the video, Annie said: “The colour palette, composition and lighting of the video all mix to create a dullness; a mundane reality which is interposed with artistic references, flashes of colour and surrealism. This is an idea which extends throughout our music as well.”

The Early Mornings’ debut EP Unnecessary Creation will be released 18th June 2021.

Keep your mind open.

[Why not subscribe while you’re here?]

[Thanks to Amy at Prescription PR.]

Review: Dry Cleaning – New Long Leg

British post-bunkers Dry Cleaning have a way of combining angular, jagged, rollicking chords, riffs, and drum fills with spoken word vocals that is difficult to describe and even more difficult for anyone to attempt to emulate. Front woman Florence Shaw is one of the wittiest and most enigmatic lyricists out there right now, and her bandmates (Nick Buxton – drums, Tom Dowse – guitar, and Lewis Maynard – bass) are wild craftsmen in their own right. Their first full-length album, New Long Leg, is a cool record that’s a little tighter than their previous EPs, made so by having plenty of time to tweak tracks and explore new sounds thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic cancelling their 2020 tour, but no less intriguing.

Maynard’s bass is something the Delta 5 would love on the opening track, “Scratchcard Lanyard,” while Shaw tells us, “It’s okay, I just need to be weird and hide for a bit and eat an old sandwich from my bag.” Haven’t we all felt like that at some point since March 2020? “Unsmart Lady” starts with a wild cacophony and then settles into a solid rock groove from Dowse that reminds me of good Foreigner tracks. Shaw also lets you know how to find a girlfriend: “If you like a girl, be nice. It’s not rocket science.”

My favorite lyric of Shaw’s on “Strong Feelings” is “That seems like a lot of garlic.” It comes out of nowhere among Buxton’s tight, yet slippery beats. “Leafy” seems to be about a break-up with Shaw singing about cleaning out a house (“What about all the uneaten sausages?”) while her bandmates seem to be playing a different song in another room. This is the kind of song Dry Cleaning does so well. Shaw seems to be doing her own thing while Buxton, Dowse, and Maynard are jamming on their own, but both elements somehow perfectly combine.

It will be a crime if Dry Cleaning doesn’t produce merchandise that reads “More espresso, less depresso.” – a great lyric from the jangly, yet smooth “Her Hippo.” The title track, with its stabbing guitar riffs, has Shaw musing over the idea of going on a cruise while she’s stuck at home due to every travel plan getting cancelled last year. “If you’re an Aries, then I’m an Aries,” Shaw says, perhaps flirtatiously, on “John Wick” – which has nothing to do with an Uber-assassin and more to do with old men griping about things that don’t matter. Dowse’s guitar on it is almost the sound of these men bitching about Antiques Roadshow and the trash truck running late.

Shaw’s vocals sound slightly electronic / robotic on “More Big Birds,” almost turning her into a computer voice. It’s a slight touch, but instantly intriguing. I’d love to know the story behind “ALC” because it starts with Shaw telling someone, “You can’t just come into my garden in your football kit and start asking questions about who lives here. Who’s asking?”

The closer, “Every Day Carry,” is a wild, psychedelic trip that has Dowse, Maynard, and Buxton playing a cool psych-jazz / post-punk blend in a dark club in the back of a former clock factory while Shaw sings / speaks about topics ranging from chocolate chips cookies and imminent domain construction to cab drivers and geese. There’s a great breakdown about halfway through when the band dissolves into a noise rock jam and then kicks back into gear with swirling sounds and Shaw’s voice and lyrics being the eye of their hurricane. It ends like a power outage.

New Long Leg is setting the bar high for other post-punk bands (or any other genre, really) to follow in 2021. Dry Cleaning’s forced vacation did wonders for their creative energy and focus, and for our ears.

Keep your mind open.

[Stretch your legs over to the subscription box while you’re here.]

[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Squid release “Padding” ahead of their new album due May 7th.

Earlier this year, Squid announced the release of their much-anticipated debut album, Bright Green Field, out May 7th via Warp Records. Today, they present a new single, “Paddling,” which follows the release of “Narrator” (feat. Martha Skye Murphy), and announce an onlineperformance as part of the official British Music Embassy SXSW showcase, airing Friday, March 19th at 6pm CDT.

“Paddling” has long been a staple of Squid’s incendiary live show. This psych-motorik stomper is a reaction to being thrust into an adult world as friends suddenly turn their focus to careers. Built around a drum machine loop and pulsing synth line, sonic details pepper the track as it lurches between dynamic movements. All the while, the band members share vocal duties with an infectious ease and confidence. Squid elaborates: “Written from two different perspectives, ‘Paddling’ is a song about the dichotomy between simple pleasures and decadent consumerism. Recounting a familiar scene from The Wind in the Willows, the song reminds us that although we are humans, we are ultimately animals that are driven by both modern and primal instincts, leading to vanity and machismo around us in the everyday.”

Listen to Squid’s “Paddling”

Bright Green Field is an album of towering scope and ambition that endlessly twists down unpredictable avenues. Each member – Louis Borlase (guitars/vocals), Oliver Judge(drums/vocals), Arthur Leadbetter (keyboards/strings/ percussion), Laurie Nankivell(bass/brass) and Anton Pearson (guitars/vocals) – played an equal, vital role in the album’s creation. Written in Judge’s old local pub and recorded in producer Dan Carey’s London basement studio, it includes field recordings of ringing church bells, tooting bees, microphones swinging from the ceiling orbiting a room of guitar amps, a distorted choir of 30 voices as well as a horn and string ensemble featuring Emma-Jean Thackray and Lewis Evans from Black Country, New Road.

Squid’s music – be it agitated and discordant or groove-locked and flowing – has often been a reflection of the tumultuous world we live in. As an album title, Bright Green Field conjures an almost tangible imagery of pastoral England. However, it’s something of a decoy that captures the band’s fondness for paradox and juxtaposition. Although the geography of Bright Green Fieldis an imaginary cityscape built from monolithic concrete buildings and dystopian visions, it’s also a joyous and emphatic record that marries the uncertainties of the world with a curious sense of exploration.

Watch the “Narrator” feat. Martha Skye Murphy Video

Pre-order Bright Green Field

Keep your mind open.

[Why not subscribe? You’re right here.]

[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Dry Cleaning’s new single elicits “Strong Feelings” ahead of debut album due April 02, 2021.

London-based band Dry Cleaning – Nick Buxton (drums), Tom Dowse (guitar), Lewis Maynard (bass) and Florence Shaw (vocals) – announce their debut album, New Long Leg, out April 2nd on 4AD, and present a new single/video, “Strong Feelings.” Buoyed by the universal acclaim they received for 2019 EPs Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks and Sweet Princess, the foursome spent more and more of their lives on tour, refining their craft even further. The intensive time they spent together meant they developed a near-psychic knowledge of how to leave the right amount of space for each other in their songs. The resulting New Long Leg is more ambitious and complex, with Shaw’s spoken vocals tightly intertwined with the band’s restless instrumentals. With lyrics preoccupied by themes like dissociation, escapism, daydreaming, complicated feelings of love, anger, revenge, anxiety, the kitchen, lethargy, forgetfulness, and survival, Shaw says, “the title is ambiguous; a new long leg could be an expensive present or a growth or a table repair.”

When the coronavirus pandemic hit in March, forcing a swift end to their US tour, Dry Cleaning had their new songs demoed, but had to bide their time before they could enter the studio. They contributed a few new recordings – one being last year’s “Scratchcard Lanyard” – passing a Tascam four-track cassette recorder to one another from the window of Maynard’s car, cleaning it with antibacterial wipes before recording their parts one by one. Facilitated by the unexpected time apart and the introspection of lockdown, Buxton started experimenting with drum machines, Dowse with a noisier, more deconstructed guitar sound, Maynard with subtler and more flexible basslines.

By June John Parish had emerged as the perfect producer and was keen to explore these creative developments. The band holed up with him at Rockfield Studios in rural Wales for two weeks, finding this isolation from the outside world “liberating,” as Buxton puts it. They got on well with Parish, buoyed by his enthusiasm, directness, and full-bodied commitment, and he was unafraid to push them when he sensed a song could be refined or taken in a different direction. “It’s not just sheer pent-up energy all the time in the way that the first two EPs were,” adds Shaw of the resultant album. “I feel more confident with leaving gaps.”

There’s tension when they duel with one another, satisfaction when they move in snaking tandem, and breathless anticipation when she steps back for a moment to let the music build. She’s constantly speeding up and slowing down, alliterating, repeating, rhyming, umming, erring and stuttering with pinpoint accuracy. These methods are prevalent in new single “Strong Feelings.” A love song of sorts, Shaw says, “it’s about secretly being in love with someone who doesn’t know it, and Brexit’s disruptive role in romantic relationships.” Its accompanying visuals, directed by guitarist Dowse, came about after Google searches brought together an informational video on road building basics from New Zealand and Massachusetts-based glitch artist, Sabato Visconti.

Watch Dry Cleaning’s Video for “Strong Feelings”

Firm friends for years, Dry Cleaning only started making music after a karaoke party in 2017 inspired a collaboration. They wrote instrumentally to begin with until six months later Florence Shaw, a visual artist, university lecturer and picture researcher by day – with no prior musical experience – turned up to a band rehearsal with a copy of Michael Bernard Loggins’ Fears Of Your Life to read out over the music. Before long she was the group’s frontperson, contributing words of her own, and serving as the perfect foil to the band’s music. Shaw extracts the most immense meaning from the most trivial things; she peppers the songs with a thousand tiny details, little witty asides about supermarkets, cupboards, beauty products and body parts add up to sonic landscapes that teem with the strange magic of ordinary life.

Watch the “Scratchcard Lanyard” Video

Pre-order New Long Leg

New Long Leg Tracklist
1. Scratchcard Lanyard
2. Unsmart Lady
3. Strong Feelings
4. Leafy
5. Her Hippo
6. New Long Leg
7. John Wick
8. More Big Birds
9. A.L.C
10. Every Day Carry

Keep your mind open.

[I’ll have strong feelings if you subscribe.]

[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Squid announce debut album and release its first single – “Narrator.”

Over the last eighteen months, Squid has become one of the most exciting bands to emerge from the UK. Today, they announce their eagerly awaited debut album, Bright Green Field, out May 7th on Warp Records, and lead single/video, “Narrator” feat. Martha Skye Murphy. Produced by Dan Carey, Bright Green Field is an album of towering scope and ambition that endlessly twists down unpredictable avenues. Each member – Louis Borlase (guitars/vocals), Oliver Judge (drums/vocals), Arthur Leadbetter (keyboards/strings/ percussion), Laurie Nankivell (bass/brass) and Anton Pearson(guitars/vocals) – played an equal, vital role in the album’s creation.

Leading into their debut full-length, Squid have been A-listed by BBC Radio 6Music, garnered praise fromPitchfork, Stereogum, The Guardian, NME, The Quietus, FADER, Paste and more. Following the release of singles “Houseplants,” “Sludge,” “The Cleaner,” “Broadcaster,” and the Town Centre EP, Bright Green Field is completely new, a nod to the band’s emphasis on perpetual forward motion.

Bright Green Field was initially written in Judge’s old local pub and recorded in Carey’s London basement studio. It features field recordings of ringing church bells, tooting bees, microphones swinging from the ceiling orbiting a room of guitar amps, a distorted choir of 30 voices as well as a horn and string ensemble featuring the likes of Emma-Jean Thackray and Lewis Evans from Black Country, New Road.

Squid’s music – be it agitated and discordant or groove-locked and flowing – has often been a reflection of the tumultuous world we live in. As an album title, Bright Green Field conjures an almost tangible imagery of pastoral England. However, it’s something of a decoy that captures the band’s fondness for paradox and juxtaposition. There’s a push-pull element to this album, present sonically in its tension and release approach, as well as thematically and lyrically. Within the geography of Bright Green Fieldlies monolithic concrete buildings and dystopian visions plucked from imagined cities. “This album has created an imaginary cityscape,” says Judge, who writes the majority of the lyrics. “The tracks illustrate the places, events and architecture that exist within it. Previous releases were playful and concerned with characters, whereas this album is darker and more concerned with place – the emotional depth of the music has deepened.”

Lead single “Narrator” ricochets from funk strut to screeching chaos via the melodic touch of guest vocalist Martha Skye Murphy. As described by the band, “‘Narrator’ was inspired by the 2019 film A Long Day’s Journey Into Night. The song follows a man who is losing the distinction between memory, dream and reality and how you can often mold your memories of people to fit a narrative that benefits your ego. Martha Skye-Murphy made the point that the unreliable narrator is, more often than not, a male who wishes to portray women as submissive characters in their story. After some discussions with Martha she thought it’d be a good idea that she play the part of the woman wanting to break free from the dominating story the male has set.”

Squid’s first ever official video, directed by Felix Green, shows the micro-components of a 3D design. “I had wanted to make a video about the virtual creation process for some time. I often think this ‘behind the digital curtain’ part of 3D design looks more interesting than the final finished product since it conveys a process and an authorship,” says Green. “When I was approached to pitch on ‘Narrator’ I immediately thought it could be the perfect match for this very visual idea.”
Watch Squid’s Video for “Narrator” feat. Martha Skye Murphy
For all the innovative recording techniques, evolutionary leaps, lyrical themes and ideas underpinning Bright Green Field, the album is also a joyous and emphatic record that marries the uncertainties of the world with a curious sense of exploration.
Pre-order Bright Green Field

Bright Green Field Tracklist
1. Resolution Square
2. G.S.K
3. Narrator feat. Martha Skye Murphy
4. Boy Racers
5. Paddling
6. Documentary Filmmaker
7. 2010
8. The Flyover
9. Peel St
10. Global Groove
11. Pamphlets

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe before you split.]

[Thanks to Ahmad at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Dry Cleaning present new single – “Scratchcard Lanyard.”

London-based band Dry Cleaning make their 4AD debut with a new single, “Scratchcard Lanyard,” and an accompanying video. The band first played the track on their KEXP session earlier this year, where they were the last act to record in the actual studios pre-COVID shutdown. “Scratchcard Lanyard” is a treatise on the joy of life’s little pleasures, where air fresheners become mighty oaks and Instagram filters are glamorous holiday destinations. In its companion video, the directorial debut of artist duo Rottingdean Bazaar (James Theseus Buck and Luke Brooks), the concept and set design riffs on the song’s celebration of the humdrum, inserting vocalist Florence Shaw into her own miniature night club.

Dry Cleaning further explain: “In the search for your true calling in life, it’s easy to try so many things that you end up confused. It can lead to an enormous build-up of frustration. You may fantasise about exacting revenge upon your real or imagined enemies. Ephemeral things and small-scale escapist experiences can provide some relief!”
Watch Dry Cleaning’s Video for “Scratchcard Lanyard”

Watch Dry Cleaning’s KEXP Session
Dry Cleaning is Nick Buxton (drums), Tom Dowse (guitar), Lewis Maynard (bass) and Florence Shaw (vocals). Firm friends for years, they only started making music after a karaoke party in 2017 inspired a collaboration. They wrote instrumentally to begin with and six months later Shaw, a university lecturer and picture researcher by day, joined on vocals with no prior musical experience.

Dry Cleaning’s music is simple – direct and uncomplicated. The Feelies, the Necessaries, the B52s and Pylon all served as inspirations when the band first came together. The small and intimate garage / rehearsal space had a huge influence on the sound; both of last year’s EPs “Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks” and “Sweet Princess,” were written here. The quartet have finished work on their debut album, with details to follow soon.

Dry Cleaning Online:
https://drycleaning.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/drycleaningband/
https://www.facebook.com/drycleaningband/
https://pitchperfectpr.com/dry-cleaning/

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe before you split.]

[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]