Post-punk – 7th Level Music

Review: Killing Joke – Extremities: The Albini Demos and Live Beginnings ’88

It’s barely spring and we already have one of the best reissues of the year – Killing Joke‘s Extremities: The Albini Demos and Live Beginnings ’88.

Way back in the mid-1980s, guitarist Geordie Walker and drummer Martin Atkins linked up with legendary producer Steve Albini in his Chicago studio and there recorded mixes and demos for what became known as the “Black Cassette” and would end up in different variations on KJ’s 1990 album Extremities, Dirt and Various Repressed Emotions.

Beginning with the demo version of “Money,” (later known as “Money Is Not Our God”) the heavy, fuzzy bass from Paul Raven hits you right away while Walker’s guitars sound like pirate transmissions from a hidden kingdom under the earth. The “Unreleased” demo has a wicked drum beat and guitar riffs that would later inspire scores of shoegaze bands. “Scrape / North of the Border” (The “Scrape” title was later dropped for the album release.) gets you moving with his wonky guitar sounds and undeniably great beat. The “Reflex mix” of “Money” rounds out Side A of the album, turning the song into a warped, wild version and clearly showing how much KJ influenced Nirvana.

Side B is a rare recording of a secret show from Birmingham, England on December 20, 1988 that happened to be Atkins’ first live gig with the band, and it also includes tracks that would appear on Extremities, Dirt and Various Repressed Emotions two years later. Jaz Coleman‘s vocals and keyboards are bonkers right out of the gate on “Extremities,” installing panic and power into the crowd. Walker’s squealing, seemingly melted, feedback-heavy guitar only adds to the chaos.

“The Fanatic” somehow sounds both distant and in-your-face at the same time. Coleman sometimes mutters and sometimes roars. Walker steps back and then charges forward. Atkins and Raven click together and keep it from becoming too frantic, but just barely managing it. “Wake up!” yells Coleman after introducing “Intravenous.” How anyone could have been sleepy-eyed during this show is beyond me, because KJ were shaking the entire venue by this point. “Intravenous” only gives you a couple moments to catch your breath during its pounding drums, high-pitched guitar feedback moments, and rolling dam waters bass.

“You see, we’re the laughingstocks…” Coleman says as the last track, “Beautiful Dead,” begins with his spooky synths and voice before his bandmates pummel the audience (and us over thirty years later) with pure force. There’s a neat moment when it almost sounds like Coleman is playing his own song on his synthesizers while Walker, Raven, and Atkins are doing their own thing and it still works quite well. The funky groove of the song during the verses is also a neat switch-up around the blast furnace choruses.

Killing Joke proved through songs like these, and many albums still to come, that they weren’t laughingstocks. They were in on the joke, knew the joke, and exposed the joke. These recordings are a great find for fans of not only them, but also post-punk and industrial music.

Keep your mind open.

[The joke’s on you if you don’t subscribe.]

[Thanks to Dan from Discipline PR.]

Review: The Shits – Diet of Worms

Looking at that album cover, you might think at first glance that you were in for a folk record, or maybe a “goth country” album, but then you notice the title is Diet of Worms (possibly after the assembly in which Martin Luther was told to recant his writings and views or be labeled as a heretic – spoiler alert from the 16th century: He didn’t.) and the band’s name is The Shits and now you’re even more intrigued.

Then the opening dissonance of the first track, “In a Hell,” arrives and you’re locked in because you want to hear where this is going. The snarling vocals arrive while drums, bass, and guitars circle around you like angry hounds and you’re thinking, “Okay, let’s do this.” This goes on for over seven minutes and ratchets up the power for the whole album. You look at the album cover again and begin to think something bad has happened (or is still happening) in that house / barn…and, by the way, is the whole area on fire?

The Shits seem to believe the whole world is on fire, judging by the rumbling rage in every track. The guitars on “Tarrare” almost sound like the repetitive ramblings of a madman. “Then You’re Dead” sounds like a Stooges B-side covered in ashes and played on a turntable with a vulture perched next to it and using its beak for the needle. The bass line and drums hits on it are relentless.

Speaking of bass, the bass notes on “Change My Ways” are thick as tar. I think the song is about being pressured to change from every angle of society in this modern world: Eat this, do this workout, sleep in this position, take this supplement, listen to these podcasts, read this book, invest your money with me! It never ends unless you change another thing – the desire to change at all. Could The Shits be hiding a Zen lesson in the distortion and shouts?

There could be another one hidden in “Joyless Satisfaction.” The title alone could allude to the emptiness that often accompanies materialism and attachment. We buy and buy and buy and so often have remorse afterwards. The thrill of the purchase is soon replaced by the dread of having yet another thing to move, dust, or take up space. The same goes for doom-scrolling, influencer idolizing, and so many other things that take up our mind-space. The track’s guitar riffs are all jagged and rusty and likely to harm you if you’re not careful.

The title track is a gritty, nervous, writhing thing with an abrupt ending that catches you off-guard. “Thank You for Being a Friend” has a groove that, believe it or not, reminds me of Thin Lizzy. It’s not a cover of the Golden Girls theme song (which would be amazing), but I think is about both true and false friends, and how sometimes it’s difficult to figure out which is which. The album ends with the menacing “Three O’Clock in the Morning.” It feels like the sensation of stumbling home after a drunken brawl in a Waffle House parking lot, or the dread of waking up for another early shift, or coming back from one that ran late, or the lonely dread that sometimes creeps in when you wake up for no apparent reason. It yells and spits at you, creeps around you, pulls at you, and generally unnerves you.

The whole album does. That’s what it’s supposed to do, and why The Shits made it. It’s as unsettling as the album cover or being handed a bowl of worms to eat. It’s meant to shake you up and shake you out of the trap you don’t even know is around you.

One final note: You can’t be a band called “The Shits” and not be a solid, damn good band. It just wouldn’t work. You’d be written off as a joke band.

The Shits are no joke.

Keep your mind open.

[I’ll have joyful satisfaction if you subscribe.]

[Thanks to Dan at Discipline PR.]

Review: Stuck – Optimizer

Chicago’s Stuck approached their new album, Optimizer, with the sense that they and the world at large are in the passenger seat of an out of control car. Things are spinning out of control, racing toward disaster, and we’re all trying to optimize our social media profiles, bodies, hobbies, food, and minds.

“It’s hard to know what you want, and to know it is worse,” says lead singer / guitarist Greg Obis at the beginning of Optimizer‘s opening track, “Totally Vexed.” He’s unsure what to do about not only his life, but things in general, just like the rest of us (“Take a look around. Everybody’s down.” / “You don’t know what you want.”). The song bristles with post-punk nervousness and Tim Green‘s pulse-slightly pounding-in-your-temples beats. “Instakill” is a song about fitness influencers and the weird world of fitness culture. It sound like some of Devo‘s earlier, punkier tracks with its strange, popping synths, David Algrim‘s robot bass lines, the slightly tortured guitar riffs, and the lyrics poking fun at people striving to be like everyone else.

“Sicko” is about subjecting ourselves to the relentless grind of not only work, but also maintaining social media profiles and projecting fictionalized best versions of ourselves. Algrim’s bass hits hard on “Deadlift,” another track about body image and our troubling relationships with it. “Less Is More” roars with punk fury. “Fire, Man” smirks at the emptiness of a lot of rock music nowadays.

“Net Negative” brings early Wavves tracks to mind with its catchy guitar hooks and snarled vocals like “I think that it’s funny connection’s tearing us apart.” “It Isn’t” is a stark look at how we’re being deceived every day, either by people, algorithms, or media (social and otherwise). “Punchline” has Stuck (and the rest of us) looking for some kind of, any kind of meaning to all of this chaos around us. It’s the track that reminds me most of Gang of Four (“You know something I don’t. A universal truth. I’m not in on the joke.”) through its solid bass and straight-to-the-gut lyrics.

The album closes with “GG.” No, it’s not a reference to G.G. Allin. “On a pitch black road, don’t know where it goes,” Obis sings on it. We’re back to the out-of-control car metaphor and how Obis feels like he’s holding on for dear life as he grieves over how a loved one has changed and seems intent on plunging them both to their doom.

Or maybe Stuck feel like most of the country has changed and is content to drive us all off a cliff rather than admit they’re afraid, or wrong, or rather afraid of being wrong. We’re all tempted and told to optimize our lives, produce more, consume more, and ignore the billionaire boots grinding us all.

Optimizer fades out with the same distortion that fades in the record. It’s a loop, spinning and spinning until we decide to take action and give it a rest — just like the traps we’re falling into every day. Stuck have held up the mirror. We have to accept what we see in it. Acceptance can lead to action, and that is optimizing.

Keep your mind open.

[I’ll feel optimized if you subscribe.]

[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: The Fake Friends – Let’s Not Overthink This

The Fake Friends‘ new album, Let’s Not Overthink This, starts off with the cry of “No truce!” on “Ministry of Peace.” They’re coming to shake things up, kick down walls, and slap you out of it.

Matthew Savage sings / shouts through the opening track, calling out everyone addicted to constant stimulation (“You got your hand glued to a screen hoping that’ll give you meaning.”) as Felix Crawford-Legault and Luca Santilli‘s guitars roar all over the place. “Sucker Born Every Minute” echoes Franz Ferdinand and Kaiser Chiefs-style rock with it’s hooky chorus, Bradley Cooper-Graham‘s bright, almost go-go synths, and Savage’s “shout them with us!” lyrics about people who can’t get out of their own damn way.

“The Way She Goes” seems to be about co-dependency, and the frantic, angular guitar chords reflect the fractured patterns in such a relationship (“You want it, I need it. I got it, you want it.”). “Control” follows this theme (“Don’t look so defeated. You only said what you mean. Too tired to keep fighting, it’s tearing us at the seams.”).

“Five Star Review” is a quirky, funny, possibly fictional tale of the history / takedown of the band told by friends and crew. “Living the Dream” is a rousing track, with great call-and-response vocals and heavy drumming from Michael Tomizzi. “Backstreet’s Back Pt. II” has this nervous tension to it that gets under your skin.

“HyperConnection” has Savage looking for something, anything, in common with a potential lover but “Your favorite books are way too long.” and “I’ll never get what you said to me. I can’t speak in astrology. What the fuck is a Capricorn?” Answer: “It’s a horse. It’s a horse!” On “If It Happens,” Savage admits that he’s doing the hard work to repair a relationship even though he knows it’s fruitless (“You know it won’t matter how much I do. It’s all in my head.”).

“Dance on My Grave” has perhaps Michael Kamps‘ funkiest bass groove on the entire record. It carries the whole song and will get you dancing, on graves or atop other things (tables, bars, desks, crosswalks, car hoods, etc.). The album ends with the simple, brutally funny “Good Friends,” in which the whole band sings about “friends” who are so miserable it’s exhausting (“I forget just how happy I can be when you’re not around.”). You have to wonder if the intended recipient of the song got the message.

The album’s title refers to not only the band’s creative process but also hides a Zen lesson. Alan Watts said, “A person who thinks all the time has nothing to think about except thoughts.” We often get stuck in our own heads, and The Fake Friends are here to snap us out of it by whacking us with the Zen stick that is this record.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Chad at No Rules PR!]

Live: LCD Soundsystem and Automatic – Aragon Ballroom – Chicago, IL – March 07, 2026

This was the third performance of a four-night residency at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago for LCD Soundsystem. They’d done this a couple years ago, and like the last time I saw them here, all four nights were sold out. It was cold and windy, and all the bars and restaurants in the area were packed, so my fiancée and I waited in the sharp wind with everyone else to get a decent spot on the ballroom floor. Much to my delight, I learned from a guy behind us that Automatic was opening the show.

I hadn’t seen Automatic since I’d caught them at Levitation France a couple years ago, so I was surprised to see someone other than Lola Dompé on drums. I’ve since learned that she’s left the band, and their new boy drummer’s name is still unknown to me. Regardless, he won me over with his Kraftwerk shirt and precision drumming. Meanwhile, lead singer / synth player Izzy Glaudini and bassist / vocalist Halle Saxon were having a fun time. Saxon’s fretless bass riffs are impressive and the crowd was solidly with them by the end of their set.

LCD Soundsystem came out to a packed house, but thankfully everyone seemed to have room to dance. They started out with “Oh Baby,” which brought the crowd to an early frenzy when spotlights hit their trademark giant disco ball during the song’s big, bright moment.

“You Wanted a Hit” was a nice one. I didn’t expect to hear it, and following it with “Tribulations” was great. I’d forgotten how good “Tonite” is, as it features some of James Murphy’s best lyrics (if you ask me).

“I Can Change” always delivers, and “Other Voices” was another surprise. The whole band was clicking, hopping around on various instruments the whole time. LCDSS is a big group, and the amount of gear on stage with them is impressive (and a good chunk of it is vintage synths that are difficult to find or afford). “Losing My Edge” had a fuzzy grit to it that I loved.

The encore included “North American Scum,” which feels more appropriate than ever in 2026, and the classics, “Dance Yrself Clean,” “New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down,” and “All My Friends.” It was a solid end to a solid show all-around, and a great way for me to kick off my 2026 concert season.

My fiancée, who fell in love with them when we last saw them, said, “They feel like a family.” when they play. That’s accurate. The camaraderie between all of them on stage is splendid and almost pulls the audience up there with them.

Unseen in this photo: At least four other band members manning bass, percussion, and synths.

Keep your mind open.

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Gentilesky are “Chasing the Light” (and Andy Gill) on their new single.

Gentilesky, the powerhouse Italian-Turkish punk collective, officially announces the April 3 release of their second full-length album, Dream, via Slovenly Recordings. Accompanying the announcement is the premiere of their latest single, “Chasing The Light,” an aggressive, staccato-driven track that pays homage to the jagged post-punk influence of the late Andy Gill.

Taking their name from the Baroque master Artemisia Gentileschi, the band bridges the gap between 17th-century subversive art and modern radical expression. Just as Gentileschi’s work reclaimed the female narrative through visceral, unflattering physical realities, Gentilesky utilizes a hard-edged sound to navigate the complexities of the current sociopolitical landscape. Three years after their debut on Hozac Records, Gentilesky returns with a sharper sonic profile. The band features veterans of the European underground, boasting members from Rippers, Undisco Kidd, and Sushicorner. While their debut explored broader artistic theories, Dream leans into a more muscular, rhythmic intensity, drawing a direct line from Gentileschi’s impact to contemporary figures with a visceral collection of work such as Nan Goldin, Jennifer Precious Finch & the late Kathy Acker.

Yaprak Kırdök (vocals) says this about the new album.

Dream is a continuation of Ways of Seeing, but taking a year to plan and write the record really highlights its maturity. Recording it with Piff played a big part as well, and listening to both albums shows our growth. I love how similar yet different each one is.

Recorded and mixed by Piff/Frizzer Studio at Smoking Fridge Studio, Cagliari, and mastered by the esteemed Nene Baratto (Movie Star Junkies), Dream will be available on vinyl and all digital platforms on April 3rd. Artwork by Yaprak Kırdök and Gabriele Serrau.

Pre-orders are currently live via the Slovenly Recordings Bandcamp page. In support of the release, Gentilesky will embark on a European tour, with dates to be announced in the coming weeks.

Keep your mind open.

[I’m chasing your subscription.]

[Thanks to Matt at Shattered Platter PR.]

Rewind Review: Dry Cleaning – Stumpwork (2022)

It doesn’t feel like Dry Cleaning‘s Stumpwork album came out nearly four years ago because it still sounds as fresh now as it does then.

The first words out of lead singer Florence Shaw on the album are “Should I propose friendship?” on “Anna Calls from the Arctic.” Shaw’s inviting us to go on this journey with her and her bandmates, but she wants to know if we’re willing and our company will be worth her time. “I like it when you can see inside houses from the car,” she says / sings, ever mysterious and intriguing. Most of the lyrics for this album were improvised by Shaw in the studio, taking inspiration from things she saw during walks around London.

Her bandmates, Nick Buxton (drums), Tom Dowse (guitar), and Lewis Maynard (bass), always craft neat post-punk, krautrock, and just…odd soundscapes around her. It’s almost like two different performances happening at the same time, and it always works. “Things are shit, but they’re gonna be okay,” Shaw says on “Kwenchy Kups.” She was right then. She’s right now.

“Gary Ashby” is a rousing, rocking song about a lost turtle the band adopted during the pandemic. Dowse’s guitar sounds a bit drunk on “Driver’s Story.” “If I could live across a Boot Fair, wouldn’t that be something?” Shaw asks on “Hot Penny Day” while Maynard’s bass funks and fuzzes like it walked in from a 1970s disco.

Buxton’s drums on the title track have a bit of a jazz feel while Shaw playfully talks and sings and Dowse’s guitar chords could fit into a Lush song without trouble. “No Decent Shoes for Rain” has an underlying growl to it that I like. The breakdown in the middle is great, with Shaw pausing to say, “It’s so great to meet you, but not here.” The whole tune changes into a new sound. It’s impressive.

The bounce of “Don’t Press Me” is a fun counter-balance to its snarky title and Shaw’s slightly snarled lip delivery. “Conservative Hell” has Shaw dreaming about escaping from reality, at least for a bit…and the end sounds of it seem to reflect a hallucinogenic trip. Maynard’s bass strolls on “Liberty Log” with a simple groove while Buxton shuffles behind him, Dowse’s guitar sounds like a distant leaf blower or a whale or a whale with a leaf blower, and Shaw sing-speaks about how reality shows about isolation became reality during the pandemic (“This seems like a weird premise for a show, but I like it.”). The album ends with “Icebergs,” which might be a metaphor for global warming because Dowse’s guitar strings sound like they’re melting as he plays.

Dry Cleaning is one of those bands that isn’t for everyone, but they’re so damn intriguing that, once you “get it” (if there is indeed anything to “get”), you become fascinated by them. Stumpwork was a weird response to the post-pandemic world, and a lot of it still feels relevant.

Keep your mind open.

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Stuck hit the gym, and your face, with “Deadlift.”

Stuck—the Chicago based trio of Greg Obis (vocals, guitar), David Algrim (bass), and Tim Green (drums)—release “Deadlift,” the second single/video from their forthcoming album, Optimizer, out March 27th via Exploding in Sound. Arriving on the heels of the “tightly-wound” (Brooklyn Vegan) lead single, “Instakill,” “Deadlift” is slower and sadder, delivering an unsparing look at the loneliness of workout culture; on the song’s chorus, Obis sings: “I know, I know, // you’ve heard it before // I never feel so alone // when the weight hits the floor.”

“I have become somewhat of a gym rat over the last several years,” Obis reflects. “Lifting weights has been indispensable for my physical and mental health. And yet, when I’m in a dark place, the gym can sometimes underscore feelings of loneliness and futility. ‘Deadlift’ uses the gym as a way to look at how atomized we have become; fixating on ourselves in public, locked into our fitness routines with our headphones, barely acknowledging the other people in the room, optimizing our wellness while racing to a red light.”

The song’s video was directed, produced, and edited by Austin Vesely and stars performer, actor and comedian Alex Grelle. “Austin Vessely’s video takes on these ideas from the opposite direction,” says Obis. “Working with him and Alex Grelle on this was a real treat. Alex is an incredible performer and improviser, and I still laugh when I watch him go all out in the video. We gave Austin very little to work with here in terms of a concept, and we’re super stoked with what he came up with.”

Watch the Video for “Deadlift”

Optimizer, the third album from Stuck reports live from the front lines of a society on the decline, where every attempt toward self-improvement only locks you into a more efficient downward spiral. The album is their most ambitious and eclectic collection of songs yet, without losing the nervy, quirked-up approach to post-punk that they’d established on their first two full-lengths.

To record Optimizer, Stuck reached out to engineer and producer Andrew Oswald (Marble Eyed, Powerplant, and Smirk). Oswald suggested that they track at Electrical Audio, the legendary Chicago recording studio once run by the late Steve Albini. With Albini’s passing still fresh, the opportunity to record at Electrical took on a personal significance for Obis; recording at Electrical would simultaneously help a local institution fill out their calendar in a moment of tragic instability and affirm Stuck’s place in a lineage of fiercely independent Chicago rock bands. Stuck are proud, in the humble way that any good Midwestern folks are proud, of embodying that archetype. Not only did Obis take over Chicago Mastering Service from Shellac’s Bob Weston when the latter decamped abroad, but Stuck’s choice of album title subconsciously mirrored Big Black’s classic Atomizer.

Optimizer continues their incorporation of synthesizers and also brings along more backing vocals, bigger choruses, and even blast beats. Oswald made his name recording extreme metal bands like Mortiferum and Caustic Wound. Though it is by no means a metal record, Oswald brought that genre’s level of tactile closed mic detail to Optimizer, resulting in the most high-definition and physically propulsive Stuck record yet. Previous Stuck albums needled you, using fast twitch guitars to keep you on edge. Optimizer goes straight for the emotional haymaker.

Pre-order Optimizer

Watch the Video for “Instakill”

Stuck Live
Fri. Apr. 3 – Detroit, MI @ Outer Limits
Sat. Apr. 4 – Toronto, ON @ The Garrison
Sun. Apr. 5 – Montreal, QC @ L’Esco
Tue. Apr. 7 – Kingston, NY @ Tubby’s
Wed. Apr. 8 – Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right
Thu. Apr. 9 – Boston, MA @ Deep Cuts
Sat. Apr. 11 – Philadelphia, PA @ Warehouse on Watts – Cambridge Hall
Sun. Apr. 12 – Washington, DC @ Comet Ping Pong
Fri. April 24 – Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village [Record Release Show]

Keep your mind open.

[Why not subscribe?]

[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Rewind Review: A Place to Bury Strangers – Live at Levitation (2023)

On their Live at Levitation album, it’s easy to forget that this recording was only the second show of A Place to Bury Strangers‘ current lineup (Oliver Ackermann – guitar and lead vocals, John Fedowitz – bass and lead vocals, Sandra Fedowitz – drums). They jumped right in (literally, in Ackermann’s case, as he was so frantic that his guitar almost flew into the stage) and proceeded to, as always, flatten the place.

Mrs. Fedowitz’s Devo-like drumming gets things off to a great start on “Dragged in a Hole.” Mr. Fedowitz’s bass throbs like a bubbling volcano on “Let’s See Each Other” as Ackermann’s voice and guitar bounce off every surface.

“We’ve Come So Far” always hits like a burst of anti-aircraft fire live, and this version is no exception. It’s difficult to tell which of the three is hitting harder on it…and that’s kind of the point. Mr. Fedowitz’s thick, sludgy bassline opens “Never Come Back” while Ackermann’s guitar sounds like jet engines starting, failing, roaring, and screeching.

Mrs. Fedowitz hits her toms so hard and fast in the first third of “Alone” that it’s surprising her drum tech didn’t have to replace them every eight bars or so. The breakdown / switch in the song that rushes it into heavy shoegaze is outstanding. “I Lived My Life to Stand in the Shadow of Your Heart” is another stunner. It sounds like the entire room is collapsing under an attack from a Martian tripod and barely gives you a chance to process everything that’s happening.

I say this about “Ocean” a lot, but it’s always true: Every time I think I’ve heard the loudest version of it live, APTBS somehow makes one even louder and wilder and more transcendent. This one evolves / devolves into feedback-chaos and almost makes your brain melt. The album ends with “Have You Ever Been in Love?”, which has Mrs. Fedowitz singing / chanting high notes to contrast the heavy, almost deafening buzz of the entire track.

APTBS shows are designed so you (and the people a couple blocks away) not just hear the music, but feel it. It rattles your whole body. My fiancé said, “I think I need a neck adjustment after that.” when she saw them for the first time. This album gets you close to that nerve-rattling, mind-altering sensation. My longtime description of APTBS is “They’re not for everyone, but I want everyone to hear them.”

Play this one loud, and everyone around you will (and should).

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Dry Cleaning – Secret Love

“To me it feels meaningful to talk about emotional things in a calm way.’ – Florence Shaw, lead singer and lyricist of Dry Cleaning.

That sums up not only Ms. Shaw’s approach to Dry Cleaning’s songs on their new album, Secret Love, but across their catalogue. Shaw’s vocal delivery, which often sounds like she’s some kind of quiet trickster watching from afar, often puzzles people. She writes and sings “about emotional things in a calm way” while her bandmates (Nick Buxton – drums, Tom Dowse – guitarist, Lewis Maynard – bass) often go bonkers behind and around her. It can be a jarring experience. Shaw is sometimes like an eye of a hurricane. Your ears aren’t sure where to give their attention. It’s best to just absorb it.

Lead single “Hit My Head All Day” has a wicked disco bass line from Maynard and a funk groove by Buxton to get your body moving. Dowse’s guitar comes in from the post-punk show next door and the dancers happily let him rock out while they keep dancing. Underneath the fun beats, Shaw sings about being frustrated with the barrage of not only thoughts, but also the idea she has to keep thinking them (“Life, a series of memorials and signals telling us this or that. Telling us this or this, think of that. The objects outside the head control the mind. To arrange them is to control people’s thinking.”).

“Cruise Ship Designer” is a song about a man who has a great career, yet he feels empty about it. Shaw wonders what it must be like to design floating cities and still feel unseen. Shaw tells a tale of someone invisible to most — the kind of song Dry Cleaning do well. “My Soul / Half Pint” has almost a surf groove to Dowse’s guitar during the chorus, and Shaw, tired of how domestic responsibilities have been heaped upon women, proclaims that “Maybe it’s time for men to clean for, like, five hundred years.”

“Secret Love (Concealed in a Drawing of a Boy)” has this bright, slightly shoegaze-y texture that is difficult to describe. “Let Me Grow and You’ll See the Fruit” has some of Shaw’s best lyrics on the album as she craves for time uninterrupted by “a video call or a survey or a dick pic or a loud bang.” She only gets privacy in “sample size” (just like most of us) and she only wants to be still and present. The saxophone on it adds a great touch.

“Blood” has smoldering punk rage under it as Shaw sings about the normalization of atrocities and violence across our screens. “Evil Evil Idiot” has Shaw expressing her frustrations with someone who won’t shut up about microplastics (and with influencers in general). The bursts of Dowse’s guitar are shocking at first. They match Shaw’s snarl.

Buxton and Maynard put down a fuzzy punk beat on “Rocks,” which is the grittiest track on the album and probably scorches live. On “The Cute Things,” Shaw seems to enjoy and be annoyed by little things in a relationship (“You talk like a greetings card, but I admire you and your family vibe.”). “I Need You” has her asking for stability in a world that keeps getting weirder by the day (“Why does it need to be over and over, and without end or change, and repeating over and over?…You’re the one that I need. You will make it all better.”). The synth bass reflects the weight she’s feeling of the constant barrage of anger around her.

The album ends with “Joy,” in which Shaw proclaims her belief that we’ll come through all this chaos and end up in a better place (“We’ll build a cute, harmless world. Don’t want one from you, cult.”).

Dry Cleaning are confronting emotional things all over this record, and inviting us to do the same in a calm way…but also acknowledging that calmness can proceed a storm.

Keep your mind open.

[I might hit my head all day if you don’t subscribe.]

[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]