Florence Shaw doesn’t tell jokes. As the singer-lyricist for the British post-punk band Dry Cleaning, she speaks in fragments and riddles, in social commentary and startling understatement, mixing serious notions with observations on the human comedy all around her. “We take humor pretty seriously,” says Shaw, whose exceedingly calm sung-spoken delivery is an essential character […]
Dry Cleaning stretches out on the nearly six-minute new single “No Decent Shoes for Rain,” the latest track to be previewed from its upcoming album, Stumpwork (Oct. 21). The song “is inspired by grief, grief over past relationships, grief for loved ones who have died, and all the things that come with that; loneliness, numbness, […]
Ahead of their October sophomore release, London-based post-punkers Dry Cleaning have unveiled Stumpwork‘s third single, “Gary Ashby.” The two-minute ode for a runaway tortoise swings like a Wet Leg track, while singer Florence Shaw’s melodies ooze like Nico’s. The quartet wrote “Gary Ashby” back in December 2020, making it one of the first new tracks written […]
Buzzy U.K. band Dry Cleaning is quickly following up its acclaimed 2021 4AD debut New Long Leg with the new album Stumpwork, due Oct. 21. The first single is “Don’t Press Me,” a 1:53-slice of jangly, jagged indie rock accompanied by a highly amusing animated video directed by Peter Millard. Vocalist Florence Shaw says, “The […]
A pair of rappers pulling off the best Tom Tom Club sample since Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy” (G Perico & Rucci), an iconic New Wave band trafficking in tongue-in-cheek nostalgia (Duran Duran), a blackgaze act embracing their love of vocal harmony (Deafheaven), and psych-rockers using the shopping mall as a metaphor for capitalist greed (My Morning […]
Back in June, SPIN published The 30 Best Albums of 2021 (So Far), rounding up everything from mainstream rock to experimental hip-hop. Six months later, we’re back with our year-end recap — and it’s interesting how, even though the stylistic balance has stayed consistent, the picks themselves haven’t. While this list also covers a lot of […]
Best Album lists tend to earn all the internet hype — it always feels like a somewhat serious, academic endeavor, adding to the pantheon of OK Computers and To Pimp a Butterflys. But Best Songs lists are weirder, messier, even more challenging on a nuts and bolts level. (When was this song released? When was […]
Despite what some “best of” blurb intros may tell you, there is no exact science to list-making. And constructing one so methodically just might ruin the joy altogether — for both us, the curators, and you, the readers. Even though debate is a natural reaction, anger is not. These stories are supposed to be fun! […]