Rene: [00:00:00] Welcome to Earshifter. He's Sean Capstick
Sean: And he's Rene Rouleau. And Rene, tell us, why are we here?
Rene: Look, we're here because basically we're gonna talk about a band, and that band either our listeners already know and are gonna learn a whole bunch about, or they've never heard of this band and maybe they'll learn and like this new band.
Sean: I hope they do. Me too. 'Cause I wanna talk about another band from the UK crank wave scene whose singing speechy-gizing ranty collage-like lyrics and angular, and I think this is important, more muscular style than our last episode, the Black Country, New Road are unconventional, but they really, really work for me.
Rene: [00:01:00] Yeah, and Black Country, New Road our last episode, is crank wave as well, right?
Sean: Is crank wave, yep.
Rene: Yeah. Yeah. So that just kinda makes sense.
Sean: We're a little crank wave theme.
Rene: Yeah, exactly.
Sean: Yeah. So the band is Dry Cleaning, and they are a four-piece singer-songwriter Florence Cleopatra, which is just so nice- Wow
that her name is Cleopatra Shaw. She's the vocalist, as I meant, the lyricist. She does percussion, tape loops, and without irony, plays the recorder. And she's a former arts lecturer and visual artist. What I love about her is her deadpan looks and almost spaced out persona when she's in concert and even in her videos is just great.
Then there's Tom Dowse. He's the guitarist, keyboardist, tape loops, and he's also a former arts lecturer. Lewis Maynard, who is the bassist and worked with adults with learning disabilities. And another reason why I like the band so much, and we'll talk about their concerts, both Tom and [00:02:00] Lewis Dowse and Maynard rock out in concert.
They make wild gesticulations in between the songs and they are really a good foil to Shaw's deadpan persona. And then Nick Buxton rounds it out on the drums, percussion, programming, keyboards, and he was a former furniture builder.
Rene: Huh. Well, interesting that some of them are art students as well, which was similar to Black Country, New Road too.
They all kinda met in college, right?
Sean: Mm-hmm, yep. And these guys didn't ... Although they, they played around in bands. It's interesting, their history. And why I say former is because Dowse, Buxton, and Maynard all knew each other from bands that they ha- They played in separate bands through, their university years, but they were all working.
They all had day jobs, and they were really trying to get something going. So, Buxton and Maynard had a band called La Shark. And they have about 150 monthly [00:03:00] listeners- ... on my streaming service.
Rene: Did you listen to them or-
Sean: Uh, yeah. And, and they're definitely a precursor- Hmm ... to that dry cleaning sound.
Hmm. That, that angular guitar-based rock that is rock but not conventional rock, right? It was interesting. I sampled it. But, I can see why they were kind of working on their day jobs. They hadn't hit the magic sauce yet. They needed a singer. They said, "Okay, we want..." They were practicing.
They, they needed a singer, so they invited Shaw to a rehearsal, and she was reluctant at first. It's it's, she says, and when she came to the rehearsal finally, she recited text related to assortment of material she kept, like illustrations, phones diaries, adverts, different things that she had written notes.
And supposedly she crouched on the floor as she was, reading, singing these random pieces of words. They loved it, and she officially joined the band in [00:04:00] early 2018, and they were off.
Rene: Yeah. And, like, the thing about this band for me is she doesn't just read the lyrics. She literally monotone reads the lyrics, but her inflections or her pauses are what make it, musical, so to speak.
Sean: Yeah. And the band is musical, right? Of course, yeah. I mean, she's, she is... It's not just words and music that are played at the same time. They actually are... They really do work at making the words and the music go together. So they had some success. They were you know, the, uh, NME O- Top 100 of 2020, and they were in in the DIY magazine's class of 2020.
But in 2018, 2019, they released songs on Bandcamp, like most up-and-coming bands start. And their debut album was supposedly written by Shaw after she was going through a breakup and moving out of her former partner's [00:05:00] apartment the same day that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announced that they were engaged.
So the song is called The Magic of Meghan. So how about we hear that?
Rene: Oh, yeah. Let's hear that one. I like that one. Let's go.[00:06:00]
So that, you know, you talked about the muscular guitar work or the angular guitar work, and dude, call me out, but I actually ... And I'm not a huge fan of Gang of Four or Wire, but I got a little bit of that from that angular guitar. Would that be right or no?
Sean: I think it's, I think it's totally spot on, yeah.
Okay. Okay. Yeah, I think they are a guitar-forward band, right? They don't you know, they've got other instruments there, and the music gets a little bit more complex as we go through this. But yeah, I, there's nothing wrong with Gang of Four, [00:07:00] that's for sure. Right? Right? They're like, yeah, that, that was good pop.
Yeah. And Wire, amazing, right? Yeah. Again, the Wi- what the, I can't remember the players in Wire, but I mean, they would ... The songs and the s- the lyrics did sometimes go apart and then come back together. They would became tangential for a little bit and then came back together. Yeah. So yeah, I think your influences are correct.
Rene: Yeah, and also just the expression angular guitar I find so interesting because it, it, you almost intuitively understand what that means. When you hear that kind of guitar, it is angular. It's hard. It's choppy. Uh-
Sean: There's, yeah, there's hard edges. Yeah. It's not smooth.
Rene: Yeah.
Sean: What would our, our sound engineer, it's not chorused?
Rene: Maybe so.
Sean: What kind of effects pedals do you think they use, really? Yeah,
Rene: we'd need Joe back here to- Okay ... to tell us for sure.
Sean: Yeah. So that's their sound, right? And after getting these accolades of being a top new band they signed to 4AD Records. So 4AD Records, we've talked [00:08:00] about them extensively over these last two seasons, right?
The Mountain Goats were signed to them for a little while, and a lot of the adjacent artists that we talk about and typically more popular than our Earshifter artists, like The Throwing Muses, Pixies, Birthday Party, Bauhaus, the list could go on, right?
Rene: Honestly, I love Bauhaus so much. I would love to do an episode on Bauhaus, but we're probably not allowed.
Sean: I don't know. I think we can make maybe an exception for-
Rene: That'd be wicked.
Sean: Yeah. Uh, you know, I think 4AD picked them up, right? And it, and well, done, and then they released the lead single from their first album called Scratchcard Lanyard. So let's hear that one as well.
Rene: Yeah, exact- And I think that is one of their most played songs, like hands down, right?
It's number two or three.
Sean: Okay, I didn't- It's up there ... you know what? I didn't look at those statistics. Yeah. You're my stati- Yeah, yeah ...
Rene: fact-checking guy.
Sean: I know,
Rene: I know.
Sean: So-
Rene: Yeah ...
Sean: it's definitely-
Rene: I'm your fact-checking cuz.
Sean: Yeah.
Rene: Yeah, for sure.
Sean: I think it's, yeah I [00:09:00] would put it as their top song. Yeah.
Rene: Yeah.
Sean: 'Cause it's so deadpan, and the lyrics are so, "Did I h- really hear her, what she just said?"
Rene: All
Sean: right. So let's hear those lyrics.
Rene: Let's hear them
clip: I think of myself as a hardy banana with a waxy surface and small delicate flowers. A woman in aviators firing a bazooka
Wearing aviators, firing a bazooka
I'm here to make a ceramic shoe and I've come to smash what you made. I've come to learn how to make
It's a Tokyo bouncy ball. It's an Oslo [00:10:00] bouncy ball. It's a Rio de Janeiro bouncy ball. Filter. I love these Matty Oaks, don't you? Do everything and feel nothing. Wristband, theme park, scratch card, lanyard. Do everything and feel nothing
Sean: Okay, so I will raise you "I feel invincible in my sunglasses" that, Oh
Black Country, New Road- Yes ... sings to a woman in aviators firing a bazooka. That's how she thinks of herself with her sunglasses on, so more than just invincible. Okay. And then Maybe she wins. And then the other lines like the opening she... In the, the opening part of the poem song she's going to a council, like a, an arts thing to learn how to be more civilized and less weird.
So she, she's there to make a ceramic shoe and smash the ones that you made. [00:11:00] Like, it's just, I can't believe that, it's just, you know, one line, you gotta list, and the pause, the effects, the way her cadence- Her
Rene: cadence is, is crazy and calculating I think as well. I, yeah, I love it.
It's great.
Sean: Yeah, with the music that's just, noodling out in some ways, but not. Yeah. Like, it's very, it's very in time- Progressive ...
Rene: with- It's angular, like we said- Yeah ... muscular, like you said. Yeah.
Sean: Yeah. It's
Rene: pretty
Sean: cool. So it's good. And, and the, you know, that, that grouping of words, the way she says what is it?
It's the wristband, theme park pass, scratch card, which I always think is a card to do scratching, but it's the lotto scratch card. Yeah. That's where- Which I'm sure that's what I mean ... that's the way
Rene: I saw it, yeah.
Sean: I just I picture it as she's got a- ... a card to do scratching on a lanyard. Okay.
But again, that's... The lyrics are open to interpretation. I suppose so. But she has a special scratch card on her lanyard, so she needs to have it all the time. But I think it's, you know, those are all [00:12:00] purposeful words that together can ma- mean anything else. Yeah. Hope. Yeah. You know, r- random lottery things and corporate, your lanyard.
Like, it's so, it's, it really... When I heard that I was like, "Oh my God, this is, like, such a cool band. Tell me more. I gotta hear more about them." And they dripped out singles for a little while and then came out with that new Long Leg album, and there's great there's a lot of, of great songs on there.
Check out our playlist on your streaming service and, uh, we've curated a few of those songs on, uh, from that album. And then the, it was produced, interesting, it was produced by John Parish. So- I kinda looked him up. He, he had worked with PJ Harvey, that's where I think maybe I knew- Oh, right.
Okay ... like, he had produced some of her albums. But his first band was called Thieves Like Us, which, how would you name your s- your, your- Whoa ... your song? Wasn't that a New Order song?
Rene: It's 100% a New [00:13:00] Order song, one of my favorite New Order songs.
Sean: Okay. Well, it was, it w- did it, was it out in 1980? 'Cause, uh, uh- Yes.
Okay.
Rene: Most definitely.
Sean: Okay. So he, he called his band Thieves Like Us, then he changed it in '82 to Automatic D- Lim- Limony? Dal- something. Oh, okay. And Polly Harvey, later known as PJ Harvey, was in his band, and then he produced her. Huh. And PJ Harvey's a great... I mean, her you know, I, every time I hear her I say, I think, "Why don't I listen to her more often?"
And so Scratch Acid Lanyard was nominated but didn't win. They were on the short list for the Mercury Prize.
Rene: Nice. Yeah. Now, do you know, the Mercury Pr- is it a British-based, uh- It's a
Sean: British-based prize that is for- Okay. Like our Polaris for Canada? It's like a Polaris for Canada. Yeah. Yeah, okay. I think Polaris was modeled after the Mercury Prize.
Rene: Oh, no way. Okay. Yeah. Cool. Good to know. Yeah. Thanks. Learning.
Sean: Come to Gearshifter. Okay. So let's hear a non-album single from that time called Tony [00:14:00] Speaks. All right, let's hear it.
clip: Zooming through Wales
Up and piled up and it falls
Sean: Okay, supposedly these lyrics were [00:15:00] written days after Conservative Party's election win, right? In the in the, around 2020, 2019 or something. And Shaw was really mad at this happening again, and so she frames the song as a reaction to that moment. I love it 'cause it's so bleak, right?
Like, she's deadpan but you can tell the desperation in her voice, right? And you know, it's a collage of those lines about climate change, environmental collapse- Yeah ... political campaigning, reducing people to economic outputs. But that line like, "I'm just sad about the decline of heavy industry."
I don't know I think she's taking the mick- ... out of that. Right, right, right. But I'm sad- Or is she? ... about that. Like, I'm really sad. Like, I think that's, that is a sad. I, I'm- Right ... not sad that, you know, that, that the UK has gotten off coal, right? She talks about coal- Yes ... being very under coal.
Very
Rene: [00:16:00] much, yeah.
Sean: But, you know, like, there's no Tony. I don't think that, the, the Tonys that were elected were a long time ago. So Tony, I think, is a made-up person, a composite of political chatter and economic platitudes, right? You know-
Rene: So it's not To- it's not a Tony Blair reference?
Sean: No, no. Right. Tony Blair was, like, decades earlier. You know? Right,
Rene: right,
Sean: right. Yeah. Right. You know, and Tony Bl- So it's just,
Rene: Tony is
Sean: just Tony? Yeah, it's just Tony. Like the coal miner Tony- Yeah ... sort of thing? And maybe Tony, maybe 'cause they're the, they're... I like Crank Wave, but also people call the post-Brexit wave.
Mm. So I don't know if that... But it's kind of funny, right? Uh, you know, I, I'm sad about the decline. I don't think I'm a Tony. I'm certainly not a goblin setting kids on fire- ... she talks about later, and just bleak. Yeah. Bleak.
Rene: Yeah, yeah.
Sean: But a great single. Yeah.
Rene: Yeah, yeah, 100%.
Sean: Okay. So then they moved on to their next album in '22, '23, called Stump Work, and it was released in, yeah, October of '22.
So [00:17:00] same recording studio, same producer, but the band developed more, musical styles. They do different beats, different types of rhythms in there. It was still edgy, but it's more melodic and varied, right? She improvised, again, a lot of the lyrics in the studio, you know, with observations and the like.
Rene: Wait, she actually improvises the lyrics in the studio?
Sean: That's part... When you read, you know, what she says about her creative process, she has these ideas, but then, yeah, they come out in the order that she feels- Whoa ... and with the music.
Rene: Almost like a rapper.
Sean: Like a rapper, yeah. Yeah. And I'm sure, you know, and, and they're, they're...
And like a rapper, she is On the beat- Yeah ... and, you know- Or, or- And with the pause- ... or purposely off the beat ... off the beat. Right? Yeah.
Rene: Depending.
Sean: And, uh, yeah. The, so, you know, like it's, it's, yeah, the s- the songwriting process, the poems are fascinating. But there's also, like, a conventional song. Take [00:18:00] Gary Ashby for example, and I do, sorry Shaw for trying to, and like 'cause she is singing.
Sorry, listeners. Yeah. Yes, okay. Uh- So this song-
Rene: I kid, I
Sean: kid ... is about a turtle who goes missing. And, Okay ... he's going, he went missing after being given the family name. That after being given the family name Ashby, he already had his name Gary, but he got the family name, he shouldn't have gone missing.
And so she's very concerned about- is he upside down? Do you need him? And she's calling out the turtle's name, Gary Ashby.
Rene: Okay, what the hell does that mean? Do you have a, do you have a inkling of wh- what she's talking about?
Sean: A turtle that went missing called Gary Ashby.
Rene: Okay. Symbolically-
Sean: Do you think that's a metaphor?
metaphorically, yes. Or something. It's gotta be something. Hold on. Do you wanna talk about literary devices? Yes. I think it's an allegory.
Rene: Oh, okay. Wanna expand on that or?
Sean: No, I just [00:19:00] like- Okay ... saying allegories. Let's, you
Rene: just like saying the word,
Sean: got it. It's whatever you- Yeah ... it's whatever you want it to be.
Yeah. Okay, fair enough. And, and, her concern for her turtle, maybe her concern for her common man. I don't know. Whatever you want. That's, I think, what-
Rene: That's
Sean: the point ... what she wants- That is the point ... is is whatever you wanna read into the lyrics. That's
Rene: fair.
Sean: And, uh, so interestingly, the album would go on to win the Best Recording Package at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards.
You've talked about the Grammy's in the past. Sometimes. How come you've never mentioned any of their packaging awards?
Rene: Well, actually, that is not true 'cause Parquet Courts, I think, won for or was nominated for one of their album covers.
Sean: Okay, yep.
Rene: Yeah.
Sean: Okay. Well, this is the packaging.
Rene: Maybe cover- Like, God forbid these, these awesome musicians actually get nominated for their fucking music.
God forbid
Sean: Well, okay. Continue. The, the, the, the, may- I like what Savages art and the stumpwork. Do you know what [00:20:00] stumpwork is, Rene?
Rene: No, but I really like that word. It's pretty cool.
Sean: So stumpwork is, and I checked it with multiple sources-
Rene: Okay ...
Sean: is a type of raised embroidery.
Rene: Oh.
Sean: A technique that became popular in England during the 17th century.
Hmm. Although it, its origins were, people were embroidering in England for a long time. And the defining feature of stumpwork is the stitched motifs are raised above the fabric surface, giving a three-dimensional appearance. Get the fuck out of my kitchen, right? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I think that's one of my favorite embroidery- Yes, yes, yes, yes ... uh, things. Yes. Yeah. Traditionally that wasn't what the, uh, uh, stumpwork said. These motifs depicted scenes with people, animals, plants, castles, or biblical or mythical stories. Are you familiar with the cover of this album?
Rene: Uh, no, actually I'm not.
Sean: So it features a a bar of soap with pubic hair- Oh ... spelling out the title.
Rene: Oh, I know it [00:21:00] now. Yes, yes, yes.
Sean: And the CD ha- It was a white CD with a drain image on the center- Yes ... of it.
Rene: Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Sean: So it's pretty creative. Yeah. And, and the stumpwork was raised embroidery.
Yeah. So. It
Rene: was, on the soap.
Sean: Yeah. So, you know, they're not as popular as any of these bands, but they share a packaging award with The Beatles, Alice Cooper, War, and more interestingly, Talking Heads also won a packaging-
Rene: Nice ...
Sean: uh,
Rene: award. I really wanna know about the Alice Cooper one, though. Which album did he win?
Sean: Uh, if I recall correctly, it was Billion Dollar Babies.
Rene: Really? Okay. Yep, I had that one.
Sean: Yeah. And Laurie Anderson,
Rene: because that would be- I thought it'd be... Sorry, I thought it'd be Muscle of Love because Muscle of Love came in a cardboard box, and the vinyl itself was pink
Sean: Hmm.
Rene: I love that album. I love the Al- I love Alice Cooper.
Fucking awesome And was,
Sean: was he trying to make a literary device with the pink thing inside of a cardboard? I don't
Rene: know. I mean, honestly, people do not give Alice Cooper enough credit. I am a huge fan. Always have been, and I [00:22:00] actually think he's way smarter than he lets on.
Sean: Oh, yeah, 'cause only women bleed.
Rene: If you wanna get basic on his songs, if you wanna be a basic bitch and like his basic songs- ... sure, you
Sean: can go there
Rene: Oh, come on.
Sean: Uh, well, what you think- Don't make fun
Rene: of Alice Cooper. Don't
Sean: cross me I... 18, I remember turning 18 and calling up the campus radio station and requesting it, and they were like, "That's not a song that we play, but for you, okay."
Rene: Okay. I appreciate that. Thank you, Sean.
Sean: Yes. I d- I have a soft spot for Mr. Cooper.
Rene: Yeah.
Sean: And Laurie Anderson. And Laurie Anderson- Mm ... of course, is a, I think, an influence on the band. Um- Who,
Rene: who was the, uh, partner of one of your favorite artists
Sean: of all time Of Lou Reed, yeah. Yeah. The partner of Lou Reed, and, and released some pretty sparse, minimalistic uh, music in the early '80s.
Yeah. Uh, O Superman- See, then- ... is a great song Yes, now
Rene: I'm basic, 'cause that's the only one I know. O
Sean: Superman's a pretty good one. It's a pretty good one. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, let's play [00:23:00] Cuch... I don't even know how to say this. Uh-oh Quenchie Cups- ... off Stumpwork.
Rene: All right, let's hear it.
clip: You didn't necessarily feel
So I don't necessarily feel
More for you, baby. Peaceful fish meat. I am dead and flat in a chiller
Plated curtains, partly hanging, partly pushed against the tinted window so it looks like a giant butt. You can say I don't give a fuck, dick face
Leaping gazelles and a canister of butane I can check and I'm gonna see the water caterpillar is no such thing[00:24:00]
Nice idea
Rene: All right, so that song honestly gives me Siouxsie and the Banshee vibes like crazy.
Sean: Mm. Okay.
Rene: Oh, especially the opening- Keep going ... bit, man. No, no, the opening bit is like, I actually thought it was Siouxsie and the Banshees. I can't remember what song exactly, what track, but, if I'm gonna be honest, I actually did read, but I will say I felt this first, but then I read that there is a Siouxsie and Banshees influence here.
Sean: Okay. I, y- I mean, maybe later when she's covering the Beatles and they are not doing the swirling chorus behind her with like, Spellbound or anything like that. Yeah, yeah. I don't think it's Spellbound, but-
Rene: Yeah ... yeah. No, no. Yeah, and then, you know, Cure-ish. The Cure, it got, it got some Cure in there- Yeah
too.
Sean: Mm,
Rene: okay. Guitar-wise. Yeah. No, you're- Yeah ... you're not, you're not on board.
Sean: I, okay. You know, but [00:25:00] again, it's who am I to say what's in your head, Rene?
Rene: Agreed. Okay, you go.
Sean: I like this song- Yeah ... because it's such a departure from, that bleak Toni speaks to, like, it's kind of uplifting. The music is happy and, you know, the, the, it says, "Life's shit, but that's okay," and she looks at the good parts of the world and, and I think she's singing both sides of a conversation.
I don't think it's internal monologue, but maybe, that they're talking about going on the vacation and seeing otters and seeing water caterpillars. And- Which don't
Rene: exist, apparently.
Sean: Hold on, Rene, you don't believe in water caterpillars?
Rene: She says they don't exist.
Sean: It's a nice idea, though.
Rene: Yeah, a really nice idea. For sure.
Sean: They do exist.
Rene: They do? Yeah. Okay, so she's wrong.
Sean: They're in, they're endemic to Hawaii.
Rene: Oh, okay.
Sean: And I think [00:26:00] there's over 40 different species. Wow. But there are water caterpillars. Okay. In fact, they could be the only insect or animal that's adapted to both, perfectly adapted to both water and air.
Hmm. That's my little entomology, uh-
Rene: All right, let's geek out, dude.
Sean: So- I learned something too- Yeah ... about the water caterpillars. All
Rene: right.
Sean: Okay. And the other songs on that are great too. That's a, a nice solid al- album as well. So that brings us to 24, the present. Their latest album, the third, entitled Secret Love, was announced late September last year with the lead single Hit My Head All Day.
And, uh, this one was produced by Cat Lebron in France. So why would astute listeners know about Cat Lebron?
Rene: Okay, so I dug in, and I might have mentioned her. She was actually guest vocals on Kevin Morby's debut album, Harlem River.
Sean: [00:27:00] Oh, okay.
Rene: Um- That's
Sean: it ...
Rene: but also, and our Parquet Courts episode, she produced A.
Savages' Several Songs About Fire, which I did talk about 'cause I absolutely love that, that album by, uh, that's the lead singer essentially of Parquet Courts. Also, just fun fact, produced Deerhunter, Wilco, and Horse Girl. Fans of all of those.
Sean: Fans of all of them. Yeah. Very well. So I knew about the Wilco connection, but yes, thanks for telling me about those other ones.
Yeah. Reminding me. I was like, "He said it in Morby-" I know. "... but he didn't-" I think so ... no connection to Morby. Yeah. And then thank you.
Rene: Yeah.
Sean: She's quite captivating, and I think she produced a great album. So this, the music continues to expand, right? So they're becoming songs. The guys even sing backup on some of the songs.
Nice. And Shaw sings the chorus rather than speaks some of the choruses. [00:28:00] So again, it continues- Evolving ... to expand. Yeah. And I know a lot of people get their music from not just streaming services, but from YouTube, right? YouTube Music is a huge way people consume- Yep ... and learn about music. Yep. So there's a, a British dance troupe called Bullyake, and they choreographed each one of the music videos.
And, you know, like, music videos are not the music videos of before. They're things to have people listen to while they're streaming the songs. But these are, if you have time, listeners, and you wanna go to your YouTube and look them up They are disturbing the choreograph-
Ooh ... and the dancing, uh, because they're regular people in regular settings doing irregular movements- Ooh ... to the you know, t- to this non-conventional music. Oh. And it's, it's actually kinda hard to look away [00:29:00] sometimes. I
Rene: love it. You had me at disturbing, 'cause I am totally gonna check that out. We're gonna check that out right after this episode- Yeah, it's, uh-
actually, 'cause I gotta see this ...
Sean: it, yeah, they are pretty-
Rene: I gotta see this ... they are pretty- I
Sean: love this ... interesting. I love it. They are all of the same motif, but they are all are so different in terms of- Okay ... how they do these little dances to the songs. I am
Rene: intrigued, and we are definitely gonna be looking at that after this.
Sean: So let's play the, the Hit My Head All Day, where there is a very beautiful person dancing to this song, Hit My Head All Day. All right, let's hear it.
clip: When I was a child, I wanted
to drive a horse. Only these carts and chariots.
As a child, I wanted [00:30:00] to be a horse.
Rene: All right, listeners. So, like we played that clip and it's on Spotify, and there's just a little, uh, loop of a teaser of, uh, the guy, I think it's a guy- Mm-hmm ... doing his dance. And guys, seriously, just check it out 'cause it's just fucking weird- ... and I love [00:31:00] it.
Sean: It's and the whole album, the songs are great and weird, and you should check those out, too.
Yeah. I think, you said in our Morby episode that, uh, you found one of your records for, uh, our end of year special. I think this is definitely gonna be one of them. Oh, nice. I, I think it's just such a great album. Nice. Totally cool.
Rene: Nice.
Sean: So are they crank wave? How do they fit into the pantheon of crank wave, Rene?
Rene: I mean, I think they do. I think they check all the boxes, no?
Sean: Yeah. I, but who do they... you've pulled out some references. So they made me think of, yeah, The Wire and the, the... I didn't think of, uh- Gang of Four ... Gang of Four, but that's a great one. Do you remember Anne Clark?
Rene: No. No, I don't even know.
Sean: So Anne Clark was, I had to look her up because I thought she was this song that I had stuck in my head, but it's not 'cause I looked at her. So she was very much more of a synth wave, like this would've been the early '80s, and [00:32:00] more synthy than Laurie Anderson. But, a contemporary of Laurie Anderson, British contemporary of Laurie Anderson.
And the songs are good. I mean, I listened to a little bit. I wasn't gonna go too far. But, even the Cocteau Twins the, you know, the, the, especially this later album where there's more atmosphere in it, the, the voice as a poem, made me think of that. So I listened to a little bit of that.
But one thing it really made, the British poems. So I listened to, when was the last time you listened to John Cooper Clarke? Never? Nev- Oh, you've never heard Beasley Street by John Cooper Clarke? No. Okay, then I know what we're listening to
after the show, listeners. Okay, but we gotta
Rene: watch those videos first.
Sean: We gotta... Okay, yeah. We g- Man, the, we got, we got homework after this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, but there was one song that I kept thinking about that was a, a British, uh, woman singing about goths going to London, and I couldn't find that for the life of me.
I thought it was Ann Clark, but it's a mystery. I, it made, now I've got a little bit more homework after [00:33:00] thinking about all of that. But definitely I think that's a great place where to come from in terms of where their songs are. But let's talk about the concerts. So Rene- ... how many times have you walked out of a concert?
Rene: Okay. So Shawn, I've walked out on a few, man. And Stars was one of them. Uh, and, and listeners, obviously I'm going to the concert 'cause I love the music, so it's not a diss to the music, it's just a diss to the performance more than anything. So I've walked out on Stars with my wife. We walked out on Camera Obscura.
We also walked out on a band called Fanfarlo. You and I, my friend, we walked out on the lead singer of my favorite band in the world.
Sean: No, we, we saw his full set, didn't we?
Rene: Mm, mm-mm, no.
Sean: We saw one full set to the end.
Rene: Yeah. Oh, no, no. Yes. Okay. That was at, yeah, oh, sorry. Sorry, listeners. Yeah, that was at Dakota, a really small f- Yeah
freaking venue, like 100 people, and also the basement of The Drake- Yeah ... which was even [00:34:00] less people.
Sean: Yeah.
Rene: But when he played the, I believe it was the concert concert hall maybe he came out with a megaphone, and we both went, "I'm out,"-
Sean: Yes, okay ... and
Rene: we left.
Sean: Yes. Okay. So
Rene: we leave- We left Yeah. We saw him three times.
Yeah. But not, the third time, not really. So I have walked out on quite a few, and this one I did walk out on. But I will say this, two things. One in our texts, something, when I looked back at our texts, dude, because we kind of discovered Dry Cleaning and Wet Leg at the same time. So and we got this Dry/Wet thing going on, and I think somehow one of us blipped in terms of, it was probably me blipped in terms of who we were gonna go see.
And so I said, "Yeah, sign me up. I'm in." But I do like Dry Cleaning regardless. Yes. But I, I think at, for a millisecond, either you said Wet Leg mistakenly, or I heard or misread Wet Leg mistakenly. But yes, I did leave Dry Cleaning- ... after about 45 minutes. I also wasn't feeling 100%, in my defense, and also, I felt like I got [00:35:00] it.
I was good. I was done.
Sean: I remember you left right before they played Tony Speaks, and I was gonna call you to come right back- ... 'cause I wanted you to feel the sorrow about Heavy Industry.
Rene: But for the record, Dry Cleaning, if you're listening, which you're probably not, but I did enjoy the concert. I just, I did leave, yes.
Yeah.
Sean: I s- I had so much fun with the concert, and w- I missed them. They, they just came through Toronto. They had rescheduled 'cause I think they had some border problems, and then the rescheduled date I couldn't make 'cause- I had to go see my one son off on his Arctic adventures. Yes, yes. Which they have a song about the Arctic-
Dry Cleaning does. And then my other son, we were supposed to go see them, and he was gonna go see Dry Cleaning, but he went to Dead Bob, 'cause he was doing research- Oh, right ... for our other episode. No ma- Oh, right.
Rene: Oh, that's
Sean: cool. So that was a big gear shifter night in that we couldn't- Yeah, no shit ...
Rene: uh, okay.
So what have you walked out on, dude?
Sean: So I couldn't remember the Hamilton [00:36:00] Leithauser episode. Um- But now you do, right? But now I do. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, now I remember. No concert amnesia there. I know unlike you, when you saw Sloan and they lifted you to the rafters- No, no, no ... carrying you so good ... I lifted others
Rene: to the rafters, 'cause
Sean: I was- Well, I thought they lifted you- No
because they were like, "Oh, you're so cool."
Rene: No. I was, like, the old guy. I was 26, I think, and I was the oldest one there. And so they're like, "Hey, dog, can you lift me up?" I'm like, "I'm fucking 25."
Sean: Okay. I thought they were carrying you- No, no ... on the shoulders- No ... of giants. I went and saw them when they did each did a side on a double side album, and then they went to proceed to play each of the sides in order.
So that was that... But I d- I walked out on The The with the Shepp. Not because we weren't enjoying it. We realized that it was gonna take a long time to get to the song. And while he was playing what's the song about, uh- I mean- ... walking by a, a cemetery thinking about all the broken lives?
Rene: Like, is it, like, one of their hits? Like This is the [00:37:00] Day or something? Or no.
Sean: Yeah, This is the Day. Oh, there you go. Yeah. Yeah. It was gonna take a long time to get to that, right? 'Cause he's got a lot of hits. Actually, he's got a lot of albums. Yeah, man. And I was enjoying it- Solid ... fine.
Rene: Matt Johnson, I think, is his
Sean: name?
Matt Johnson. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. But it was in a soft seater. Everybody was so reverential, and Chris and I were talking to each other, and then we realized everybody was getting mad. Mm. So we pretended to have a fight and walk out. For
Rene: real?
Sean: Yeah. Hilarious. It was just like-
Rene: Pretended to have a fight.
Sean: Yeah.
That's
Rene: funny.
Sean: Uh, All right. But I can't think of any other times. All right. I could stick it out. Okay. So what are the- Oh,
Rene: you walked out on Explosions in the Sky But that's 'cause you don't even like them.
Sean: I thought I stayed to the end.
Rene: No, you were very gracious. I had no fricking idea that you didn't even like them, and you came- That I didn't
Sean: know that they didn't have lyrics.
Rene: Lyrics, yeah. There was no lyrics, and it was at, uh, City Hall, and it was during the day, I think. And- Oh, okay ... I came- 'Cause we,
Sean: we saw them, we saw them at night one time. Well,
Rene: we saw them o- And I didn't- That's where I discovered them. Yeah. They, they opened for, uh, Trail of the Dead.
Sean: Okay, and I didn't walk out on that.
Rene: No, no. [00:38:00] So, yeah. 'Cause we were waiting for Trail of the Dead, so. Yeah.
Sean: Yeah. Who could walk out on them?
Rene: Yeah.
Sean: Uh, okay. So what are their statistics, Rene?
Rene: Well, Sean, I'm so, uh, surprised that you asked. But, uh- Yeah, 170,000 monthly listeners.
Sean: Which I don't feel is enough, right?
Rene: I don't think so either, 'cause I think they have a unique, distinct voice pun intended, I guess.
But also just a unique sound overall, and, um, and that's all I ask of an artist- Mm-hmm ... is just give me something different, and they do.
Sean: And they worked hard for it, right? You know, they had all, all had day jobs. They kept working to you know, they didn't get success right out of university. They had jobs.
They continued to practice. They formed a sound. I think it's great 'cause they don't play by the rules, and, you know, they're my favorite type of crank wave. Um, you know, the other reason I think they're a ear shifter band is that lyrically they are more like the poets we have featured in previous episodes, such as [00:39:00] Jim Carroll, Gil Scott-Heron.
Ansha's lyricism and musical styles continue to expand and evolve, and I'm really excited about where they're gonna go with this, 'cause they've got a unique sound and they're, and they keep evolving.
Rene: So very on brand, Sean, 'cause you love lyrics and I'm more the vibes guy. So this band is perfect, but I, I do love this band as well.
Sean: 'Cause they got great vibes. But I think the most important thing, and this is where I think they represent both the old and the new ideas of the 4AD label, right? They've got all the critically acclaim of the '80s bands that, you know, when we fell in love with the record label, you know, when they were really known as the curator of quality new bands.
But like the modern 4AD roster of new bands, they should have more listeners, 'cause, you know, who, who does 4AD have now, right? They've got Some of the artists that we wouldn't really feature in an episode, but they make some of our favorite songs, right? Big [00:40:00] Thief, Adrian Lenker, Deerhunter that we've mentioned already- Yeah
in this.
Rene: Might do an episode on them.
Sean: And The National.
Rene: Oh, The National. I love The National.
Sean: Love The National.
Rene: Absolutely.
Sean: So they should be as popular as The National, and then we can say you heard them here first on EarShifter.
Rene: Very nice. Excellent, and I agree.
Sean: Okay, so who are we gonna hear next?
Rene: All right, so, uh, our next episode is gonna be on a band from Philadelphia, and they have a lead singer who just honestly has a very strong and vocal social media presence.
I really enjoy her posts, and they're very opinionated in a good way. And fun fact, I kinda discovered them through, I think our friend Jim.
Sean: Okay.
Rene: I think, but I kinda discovered them in, in synchronicity with Echo Astral. Uh, and they both have kind of a similar sort of punk indie band [00:41:00] vibe. And hopefully, Sean, we will have a chance to see them before we record that episode.
Sean: I am looking forward to that.
Rene: Fingers crossed, buddy.
Sean: Okay. Well, until next time, we'll talk about more bands we love, and hopefully you'll love them too.
Rene: Excellent.
Sean: Bye, guys. See ya.
Rene: We hope you enjoyed this episode of EarShifter. Tune in next time where we'll cover another band that deserves more. You can find EarShifter on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, friend us or listen to our playlist on Spotify, and visit earshifter.com for more information.
Special thanks go to our logo designer, Stuart Thursby, and our intro/outro music by Joe Novak. You can find him as byebyebadman, one word, on SoundCloud, and a big shout-out to Joe for being our awesome sound engineer/editor. Until next time.