Music Review // The Dirty Clergy "In Waves"

https://www.thedirtyclergy.com/

When I first press play on "In Waves" I am greeted with this dreamy garage rock.  If you've been listening to music in the 21st Century, you know that there exists this genre of artists who try to be like Buddy Holly only in a modern way.   It's something like Nobunny or Hunx and His Punx but also what I think of when I think of Burger Records.    As I listen to this song though it feels special enough that I would be comfortable listening to an entire album of these sounds.   I would only come to find how diverse The Dirty Clergy makes their songs.

"There's nothing for me here / I'm too far gone" is how this entire album starts and it feels like if you're not hooked by that line you won't be into the entire album.   Sometimes that opening line is so very important- like on "In Utero".    On "Born To Lose" the drums are loud and overall the song reminds me of All Get Out, which is not quite the same as the road which I thought we were going down at the start.

The songs take on this -gaze vibe and by the end of "Young Lovers", as it's winding down, I can even hear some Oasis in there.   Once you hit the song "Wonderland" you know this isn't going to be a run of the mill garage rock album, or even a garage rock album at all.   These songs shift seemlessly from one to the next, yet also stay out of that concept album where most all the songs sound the same that so many other artists tend to seem to stroll down (which, in itself, isn't always a bad thing anyway)

"Homesick" starts off trippy, like we're drifting through space and it's just a shining example of the powerful rock n roll that The Dirty Clergy has managed to discover here.    I definitely enjoy songs with lyrics I can relate with and the lines "This medication doesn't work / In fact I think it's making it worse" really hits home with me.    "West Coast" is a smooth, dark, distorted rock n roll song which could be described as whispy with elements of BRMC. 

"Dead To Me" gets really dreamy, like how the album first begana, but then "Lucy" comes back as this slow, sad song with hints of one of those bands you'd hear a lot during karaoke-- like Journey-- but also partially No Motiv.    "Lucy" is, essentially, the ballad about the girl and the line "Sorry I missed your call" can be taken so many different ways but they are all ways in which I feel very connected to this song.

We can feel like we're into dreamgaze on "Whiplash".   There is a nice distorted guitar solo in here as well.    Layered vocals make "Parades" feel dreamy and then it just kicks into this huge, great sound.   I've never really liked parades in a literal way: standing (or sitting) around watching other people walk.   Maybe it's because of that Daria episode called "I Loathe A Parade", but this song is about parades and it's called "Parades" and I do enjoy it.   Maybe I'm getting soft in my old age.

"Too Good Too Last" just seems like the perfect, big song to end on with the most appropriate of lyrics.    At times, The Dirty Clergy can bring about thoughts of Superdrag and Subsonics, at other times The Benjamins and MTX.    But I feel like throughout these songs it's not just important to recognize how The Dirty Clergy are creating a sound which they can call their own, but also how they are doing so with each song being different from the last and yet connected with that rock n roll undertone the entire ride.