Dry
P.J. Harvey
Too
Pure/Indigo, 1992
Reviewed by
Troy Carpenter
Dry introduced Polly Jean Harvey as the brash leader and namesake of an
English power trio. The raw, brutish delivery of this potent album is in stark contrast to
the majority of the '90s' feminine rock movement, and establishes Harvey as one of the
decade's most unique artists.
Harvey's gothic, breathy exhortations and sinewy guitar playing make up the heart of her
music, while bassist Stephen Vaughan and drummer Robert Ellis are a muscular and
relentless rhythm section that helps complete the murky, vigorous sound of Dry.
Like the cover photo, a lipstick-smudged, out-of-focus shot of Harvey's chin, the music
seems to say "I'm not going to dress up prettily just to impress you, but I know
there is beauty in my honesty."
The band's first two singles, "Dress" and "Sheela-Na-Gig," are
included on the record, and the latter proves to be Harvey's first anthem, the female
equivalent to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" with its strong rallying cry and catchy
progression.
"Hair" metaphorically echoes Harvey's feminine strength with a Biblical tale.
The narrator in the trembling verses is Delilah, boiling with anticipation as she holds
Sampson's hair in her hands and contemplates the power it will give her: "Sampson,
your hair that's in my hands, I'll keep it safe - you're mine, you're mine." The
chorus explodes with reaction, Delilah exerting her newfound power and mocking Sampson's
retorts ("Delilah my babe / you lied in my face / you cut off my hair / you lie in my
bed") as the bass guitar swings like a pendulum up and down the song's throat.
Even the slower songs sound menacing, Harvey's sweetly on-edge crooning undercut by the
throbbing of the rhythm section. On "Plants And Rags," her vocals are
accompanied by acoustic guitar and a haunting string section, orchestrated by Ellis.
The album closes with the defiant epic "Water," which builds to consummate the
yearning prevalent throughout Dry. For the most part, the album's title fits its
arid textures, but Harvey quenches herself in messianic fashion as she screams to the
record's end, "I'm walking on Wa-wa-wa-a-ter-rrr!"
