London's Dry Cleaning continue their crusade to become your favorite post punk/jangle pop band with their latest single. "Gary Ashby" combines the downbeat sound of Gang of Four with the more shoegaze and dream pop sounds of bands like Lush and Belly. The resulting sound gives "Gary Ashby" a hypnotically foreboding quality. It's also the greatest post punk song ever about a missing tortoise. Dry Cleaning explains that the song is “... a lament about a pet tortoise, escaped as a result of family chaos. We wrote it in December 2020, one of the first new songs after the New Long Leg session.”
You can listen to "Gary Ashby" below. Stumpwork is due out October 21 on 4AD, and can be pre-ordered here. For more on Dry Cleaning, check out the band on Facebook and Instagram. Upcoming tour dates are below the song.
Sat. Sept. 17 - Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up Sun. Sept. 18 - Los Angeles, US @ Primavera Sound LA Tue. Sept. 20 - San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel Wed. Sept. 21 - San Jose, CA @ The Ritz Thu. Sept. 22 - Big Sur, CA @ Henry Miller Memorial Library Tue. Nov. 8 - Paris, FR @ Le Trabendo Wed. Nov. 9 - Cologne, DE @ Club Volta Fri. Nov. 11 - Utrecht, NL @ Le Guess Who? Festival Sat. Nov. 12 - Kortrijk, BE @ Sonic City Wed. Nov. 30 - Tokyo, JP @ Liquid Room Thu. Dec. 1 - Osaka, JP @ Club Quattro Tue. Dec. 6 - Auckland, NZ @ Tuning Fork Wed. Dec. 7 - Wellington, NZ @ San Fran Fri. Dec. 9 - Brisbane, AU @ The Brightside Sat. Dec. 10 - Meredith, AU @ Meredith Festival Mon. Dec. 12 - Melbourne, AU @ The Corner Hotel Tue. Dec. 13 - Melbourne, AU @ The Corner Hotel Wed. Dec. 14 - Sydney, AU @ Manning Bar Fri. Dec. 16 - Perth, AU @ Rosemount Hotel Tue. Jan. 10, 2023 - Montreal, QC @ La Tulipe Wed. Jan. 11, 2023 - Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Fri. Jan. 13, 2023 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall Sat. Jan 14, 2023 - Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Tue. Jan. 17, 2023 - Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Wed. Jan. 18, 2023 - Seattle, WA @ Neptune Thu. Jan. 19, 2023 - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom Sat. Jan. 21, 2023 - San Francisco, CA @ August Hall Mon. Jan. 23, 2023 - Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom Tue. Jan. 24, 2023 - Tucson, AZ @ Congress Plaza Thu. Jan. 26, 2023 - Dallas, TX @ Texas Theatre Fri. Jan. 27, 2023 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk Sat. Jan. 28, 2023 - New Orleans, LA @ Toulouse Theatre Sun. Jan. 29, 2023 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West Tue. Jan. 31, 2023 - Washington, DC @ The Howard Theatre Wed. Feb. 1, 2023 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer Thu. Feb. 2, 2023 - Brooklyn, NY @ Pioneers Works Tue. Feb. 14, 2023 - Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street Wed. Feb. 15, 2023 - Belfast, UK @ Mandela Hall Fri. Feb. 17, 2023 - Glasgow, UK @ Barrowlands Sat. Feb. 18, 2023 - Leeds, UK @ O2 Academy Mon. Feb. 20, 2023 - Liverpool, UK @ Invisible Wind Factory Tue. Feb. 21, 2023 - Nottingham, UK @ Rock City Wed Feb. 22, 2023 - Sheffield, UK @ O2 Academy Fri. Feb. 24, 2023 - Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall Sat. Feb. 25, 2023 - Birmingham, UK @ O2 Institute Sun. Feb. 26, 2023 - Bristol, UK @ O2 Academy Tue. Feb. 28, 2023 - Cardiff, UK @ Tramshed Wed. March 1, 2023 - Brighton, UK @ Chalk Fri. March 3, 2023 - London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton Mon. Mar. 13, 2023 - Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA Wed. Mar. 15, 2023 - Stockholm, SE @ Debaser Strand Thu. Mar. 16, 2023 - Oslo, NO @ Parkteatret Sat. Mar. 18, 2023 - Hamburg, DE @ Knust Sun. Mar. 19, 2023 - Groningen, NL @ Vera Mon. Mar. 20, 2023 - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Tue. March 22, 2023 - Offenbach, DE @ Hafen2 Thu. Mar. 23, 2023 - Munich, DE @ Strom Fri. Mar. 24, 2023 - Vienna, AT @ Flex Fri. Mar. 25, 2023 - Prague, CZ @ Futurum Mon. Mar. 27, 2023 - Warsaw, PL @ Hybrydy Tue. Mar. 28, 2023 - Leipzig, DE @ UT Connewitz Wed. Mar. 29, 2023 - Berlin, DE @ Festsaal Kreuzberg Fri. Mar. 31, 2023 - Rotterdam, NL @ Maassilo Sat. Apr. 1, 2023 - Antwerp, BE @ Trix
Photo by Rachel Cassels The Cairo Gang is mostly Emmett Kelly, who recorded most of their upcoming album, Goes Missing, on his own while travelling. "Be What You Are" is pure pop gold, reminiscent of British invasion bands like The Kinks and The Zombies. It features jangly guitars and some of the most infectious layered vocals you've heard in years. Luckily the beauty of this style of music is that it never quite sounds dated. It might sound like it's from a certain era that happened 50 years ago, but everything you've ever listened to since then borrows so heavily from it that it always sounds current. It's the kind of music you wish you hadn't missed, only now you haven't. Goes Missing is due out June 23rd on God? Records. You can pre-order the album now, and be sure to check out The Cairo Gang's Facebook . Listen to "Be What You Are" below, and below that are tour dates, many opening for Mikal Cronin. Sat. Sept. 5 - Portlan...
Photo by Ebru Yildiz Somehow TORRES keeps surprising us with her music. The musical project of Mackenzie Scott has released a new single that features her vocals and acoustic guitar that would feel at home in a neo-folk song over a pre-programmed drum beat with sounds that at times are either a light squall of guitar feedback and electronic noises. The song has this haunting and unsettling feeling to it, despite sounding like it's trying to be upbeat. I'd say art doesn't always have to be a pleasant experience, but "I got the fear" can be a pleasant listening experience, except for the times it's not. Mackenzie Scott says of her latest single: “A collective dread has been mounting. Everyone I know is having a brawl with the universe, with themselves…wars, climate catastrophe, a pandemic, the worldwide regression on human rights, the political hellscape — it affects everybody, and I know we’re all feeling it in waves of varying degree all the time. I think it’s...
Photo by Hanna Katrina I never thought we'd be covering a band that formed after a karaoke party doing a song about Meghan Markle, but 2019 is weird. Also, Dry Cleaning are a shockingly great band. Only forming two years ago, the band is set to release their debut EP next month. "Magic of Meghan" is obviously about Meghan Markle, but it might be the only post punk and new wave influenced song about the Duchess of Sussex. As the band says about the song: “ The song acknowledges that following the lives of those in the public eye can provide people with an escape; an outlet for difficult emotions, and subsequently help them to cope with hard times in their lives, ” says Florence Shaw. “ The song is, in part, intended to serve as a thank you to Meghan for this service (‘You got engaged on the day that I moved out. It’s ok. She’s a smasher, perfectly suited to the role’). The song also aims to highlight how the news media dissect her decisions (‘Never has one outfit bee...
