Today Shaw puts her restlessly inquisitive personality to use as the lead vocalist for one of the most exciting bands in rock. Dry Cleaning’s debut album,
New Long Leg, is due out April 2nd after a pair of 2019 EPs that hit like telepathic firecrackers from another planet. Shaw’s unique lyrical style is a big part of what sets Dry Cleaning apart from a thousand other 21st-century U.K. guitar bands. On songs like the recent single “Strong Feelings,” she recites disjointed monologues in an eerily calm tone over dank, arty rumbles courtesy of guitarist Tom Dowse, bassist Lewis Maynard, and drummer Nick Buxton: “Just an emo dead-stuff collector/Things come to the brain/I spent £17 on mushrooms for you. … I’ve been thinking about eating that hot dog for hours …” The meanings of her words can be obscure or startlingly direct, disturbing or quite funny, and the music is always charged with intense feeling. It’s a refreshingly off-kilter combination that could only co
Our Last Shows: A Look Back at Final Concerts Before the World Went Quiet
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Brenna Ehrlich, Hank Shteamer, David Browne, Andy Greene, Andrew Firriolo, Jonathan Bernstein, Mankaprr Conteh, Rick Carp, Griffin Lotz, Jason Newman, Jon Freeman, Rob Sheffield and Kory Grow
March 10, 2021, 6:25 AM·28 min read
A year ago, our lives ground to a halt as Covid-19 spread across the U.S. Everything but essential businesses shut down, schools closed, and the music world stopped in its tracks. Tour announcements became tour cancellations, festivals were called off, and those of us who attended several live shows per week found ourselves on our couches, grieving not only the fallout of the pandemic but the loss of one of our greatest comforts: music.
Fred Pessaro’s favorite albums of 2020
Fred Pessaro a lifer was a long time BrooklynVegan and Invisible Oranges editor and show organizer before moving on to Noisey, CLRVYNT, Revolver, and other places. His taste in heavy music has helped shape not just our own coverage for over 10 years, but the music landscape as a whole. In addition to still occasionally contributing to BrooklynVegan and writing other places, Fred helped organize shows at places across the US including Saint Vitus, Brooklyn Bazaar, Union Pool, TV Eye and many many more. As the year is coming to a close, we’ve been publishing year-end lists from various music industry figures. Here’s Fred’s, who we re always happy to have back:
Lanegan embraces his love of gothy 80s alt rock this fun, sometimes danceable album
Mark Lanegan has had one of the more resilient careers of any of the acts associated with the 90s grunge movement. That association was mostly geographical: his old band Screaming Trees were from Seattle, but started well before the flannel movement and their sound was more on the garage-psych side of the spectrum. He survived the 90s and drug addiction, and has dabbled in a wide variety of genres including blues rock, atmospheric folk rock, electronica, a few Nancy-and-Lee duet albums with Isobel Campbell, and more. Tying his catalog together is a mile-wide dark streak and Lanegan s weathered vocal style which sounds great over a surprisingly large variety of genres.