Dry Cleaning offers a wonderfully catchy and musically compelling duel between singer and guitarist ★★★★☆

Let’s see, what can go? Baking powder. Jar of mayonnaise. And what to do with these sausages? Just wash the fat from the frying pan…

The preceding is a song by the London post-punk band Dry Cleaning: a piece from leafy, almost literally translated. Frontwoman Florence Shaw doesn’t sing the words, she sniffs them. You can already see her scurrying around in her kitchen, chatting out loud to herself.

It’s the group’s trademark: Shaw’s sonorous talk vocals and the belief that every everyday life has a song.

leafy opened the row in the packed Doornroosje in Nijmegen on Friday evening, the first of four Dutch hall performances. In July, a visit to the Down The Rabbit Hole festival will follow.

In the current British post-punk wave, Dry Cleaning distinguishes itself with lightness, humor and an undercooled tone, but beware: the guitar parts of Tom Dowse, who played the The band’s sneaky predecessor turns out to be. His guitar tells its own story, sings its own melodies and gives character, color and direction to the band sound.

It is also Dowse who gradually increases the intensity with his cutting torch, with as highlights the nice and nasty sounding Magic of Meghan (from their first EP from 2019) and Scratch Card Lanyardthe cult hit from debut album New Long Leg from 2021.

For example, a Dry Cleaning concert takes on the features of a duel: Shaw tries to make monotonous, Dowse tries to prevent that. The result is wonderfully catchy and musically compelling, thanks also to the strong, well-oiled rhythm section.

An hour and a half of Dry Cleaning? That could be a bit long, but they don’t offer you that either. hour. Finished. Exactly right.