PJ Harvey
Dry
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PJ Harvey
Dry
Too Pure/Indigo, 1992
RiYL: Patti Smith, Fugazi, The Amps, The Pixies' Surfer Rosa |
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!"
TROY CARPENTER | Troy Carpenter founded NATN from a Chicago apartment during the ambitious winter of 1998 with co-conspirators Ben French and Jonathan Cohen. After a five-year stint in New York, he and wife Lourdes have recently relocated to Indianapolis, where he spends days listening to music and nights in the kitchen at Elements restaurant. Musical heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Super Furry Animals. What else makes life worth living: Sushi, Phucty, runs in the park, and the Atlanta Braves.