Photo by Steve Gullick
On their latest video, “Unsmart Lady”, Dry Cleaning shares amongst skittering guitars and Florence Shaw’s beloved monotone vocal delivery that they really couldn’t give a fuck about society’s ideals — especially when it comes the the ideals of what a woman “should be”.
Filmed on what looks like an old camcorder in an empty carpet store, we see the full band playing with a focused ferocity — seeming to be just as at home here as they would at a proper venue. Shaw’s vacant, wide-eyed stare is repeatedly zoomed in on as she speak-sings one-liner after one-liner and stays almost immobile on a tiny square of carpet in a monochrome red ensemble. In contrast, her bandmates flail around her as the song escalates.
Shaw shared that the idea for the song came in part from her own experiences as well as a character she created in her head. Previously balancing multiple jobs and changing in public restrooms to go from one to the next, Shaw had an idea of what a hard working woman looked like — one that might not be the glamorized ideal. These things that women are criticized for — their weight, size, appearance — have nothing to do with their worth, value, skillset, what have you. And how women are treated should not be dependent on those things.
Shaw’s stoicism and ability to write bitingly honest lyrics continue to make Dry Cleaning one of the most interesting and exciting bands to watch. They end the video with a cheeky zoom in on King Henry VIII in carpet form — a man who clearly could have benefitted from Shaw’s perspective.