Dry Cleaning are presently busying themselves with live performances; having just completed a short tour of the United States, the band will be performing a run of UK shows starting on November 27^th at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena, and ending on December 9^th, also in Nottingham. Following this, the group will embark on a European tour in January, and will return to the UK for another run of shows in February. Come May-time, the band will head out on a recently announced North American tour, with scheduled performances in both Canada and the United States respectively. You can find out more about their upcoming tour dates here.

Earlier this year, Dry Cleaning released their debut album New Long Leg, which has been well-received by fans and critics alike, with NME calling the album “a playful antidote to po-faced post punk”, in reference to the whimsical and occasionally tongue-in-cheek lyricism of frontwoman Florence Shaw. Shaw’s writing seems to be inspired by everyday occurrences; newspaper headlines, trips to Sainsbury’s, and watching television, but she often deals with more pressing, serious subject matter in between these musings on mundanity. In the song “Every Day Carry”, Shaw speaks of “Crappy crazy pizzas” and “banging pasta bake” over an atmospheric guitar motif and a hypnotic, Public Image Ltd. Esque bassline, before delivering the poignant line “I just want to put something positive into the world but it’s hard because I’m so full of poisonous rage” just before the song’s conclusion.

Sonically, the band has been likened more to their precursors than their peers; whilst they inhabit the post-punk genre alongside other UK groups such as Fontaines DC or Shame, their spacey instrumental style evokes a similar feeling to the music of Joy Division and Wire, with the bass guitar taking precedent in many of their songs, whilst an effects-laden guitar part swirls in the background.

New Long Leg was released on the 2^nd of April via the record label 4AD. The album can be listened to on all available streaming services, and you can find physical copies of the album on the band’s website, including two vinyl variants, cassette, and CD.

Dry Cleaning’s North American tour starts this week and they’ve just announced new 2022 dates https://t.co/TG7qR49W56 pic.twitter.com/t1xqVNp4Cq

— BrooklynVegan (@brooklynvegan) November 8, 2021

Dry Cleaning released their debut full-length album New Long Leg in April of this year to extremely warm critical reception, with The Guardian and NME giving the album four stars out of five, and Pitchfork calling it an “outstanding debut” that is “full of surreal images, bizarre obsessions, and sense memories.”

The band’s sound inhabits a similar vein to other UK post-punk outfits such as Fontaines DC and IDLES, and have warranted comparison to precursors such as Joy Division and Wire, with their heavy emphasis on prominent, hypnotic bass riffs and hazy guitars. They are set apart from their contemporaries and predecessors, however, by singer Florence Shaw’s direct, droll vocal delivery and notably idiosyncratic lyrics.

Shaw’s spoken-word, narrative style lends itself to her writing and lyrical topics, which range from poignant and critical in songs like “Unsmart Lady” to cryptic stream of consciousness ramblings, which Shaw has stated come from her own writing exercises; “Sometimes you just can’t be fucked with a lot of topics…You’re like, ‘The only thing I care about right now is baked beans.’ Or, ‘The only thing I care about is Star Trek: The Next Generation. That is my interest, and everything else can fuck off.’ 

Dry Cleaning are currently touring in support of New Long Leg, and are presently performing in the US. Until November 20^th. Following this, the group will be playing a run of UK and European shows, starting on November 27^th at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena. Listed below are the band’s upcoming UK shows for the remainder of the year, as well as US and UK dates for 2022. Tickets can be purchased here.

2021 UK Dates

27/11/2021- Motorpoint Arena Nottingham- Nottingham
30/11- Tramshed- Cardiff
01/12- The Trades Club- Hebden Bridge
02/12- Norwich Arts Centre- Norwich
03/12- Brighton Dome- Brighton

2022 UK Dates

14/02/2022- Arts Club- Liverpool
15/02- The Button Factory- Dublin
16/02- Empire Music Hall- Belfast
18/02- Sumerhall Arts Venue- Edinburgh
19/02- Queen Margaret Union- Glasgow
20/02- Brudenell Social Club- Leeds
22/02- The Mill- Birmingham
23/02- The Marble Factory- Bristol
25/02- Manchester Academy- Manchester
26/02- The Leadmill 2- Sheffield
27/02- Rescue Rooms- Nottingham
01/03- Wedgewood Rooms- Southsea
02/03- Brighton Concorde 2- Brighton
03/03- O2 Forum Kentish Town- London
30/03- O2 Academy Leceister- Leceister
31/03- Cambridge Junction- Cambridge
01/04- O2 Ritz Manchester- Manchester
02/04- Boiler Shop- Newcastle Upon Tyne

2022 US Dates

15/05/2022- Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theater- Somerville, MA
17/05- First Unitarian Church- Philadelphia, PA
18/05- Webster Hall- New York City, NY
19/05- Ottobar- Baltimore, MD
20/05- Cat’s Cradle- Carrboro, NC
21/05- Terminal West- Atlanta, GA
23/05- Satellite Bar- Houston, TX
24/05- Club Dada- Dallas, TX
25/05- Hotel Vegas- Austin, TX

Posting on their Instagram page, the band wrote: “Dearest pals, we are most delighted to announce our Spring 2022 UK & Ireland tour! We will be doing a tasty ticket pre-sale on Wednesday for those on our mailing list, and anyone that would like to sign up before then… Tickets go on general sale this Friday! We can’t wait to see you.”

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Dry Cleaning is made up of lead singer Florence Shaw, guitarist Tom Dowse, bassist Lewis Maynard and drummer Nick Buxton. The band formed in 2018, and went on to release their first single Magic of Meghan in 2019. They released two EPs – Sweet Princess and Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks – later that same year.

The band featured in the NME 100 of 2020 list, with the statement: “the band’s unique take on psych-tinged indie rock won them fans pretty quickly… the prospect of a debut album in 2020 is now more mouth-watering than a Viking feast.”
They were also a part of DIY Mag’s Class of 2020: “Success on their own terms, with a sense of humour and some of the weirdest, most wonderful music out there.”

On their upcoming album, the band posted: “Dearest pals, it is with great pride that after what feels like an eternity, we can finally share the news that our debut album ‘New Long Leg’ is set for release on the 2nd of April via the wonderful @4AD!”

Dry Cleaning released their latest single, Strong Feelings, in February 2021. In March they performed on Later… with Jools Holland. The group are also due to play at the BBC Radio 6 Music Festival at the end of this month.