Mary St Live presents David Cronenberg's Wife. Named with a wink toward the body horror auteur, David Cronenberg’s Wife (or DCW) are the house band in the biology theatre at the end of the world. They loop riffs in relentless cycles long enough that they stop being riffs and become psychological conditions. The bass maintains the pulse, the guitars sharpen their knives, the drums seem to be growing extra limbs. Then, removing an eye from his microscope, the deadpan lecturer with the twinkle in his eye details narratives which flirt with the absurd and the macabre. All told with a devilish wit and sometimes displaying a vulnerability beneath the jagged edges while the musicians don’t so much soundtrack these stories as stalk them. Unhinged maybe, but unhinged fun.

DCW’s fifth album Department Of Biology is out on Mayday on independent label Blang, pressed on eco-vinyl. Fresh off two UK tours supporting cult New York songwriter/comic book artist Jeffrey Lewis, David Cronenberg’s Wife trace their origins back to the late 2000s/early 2010s London DIY scene, serving as a catalyst for other like-minded bands in south London to follow suit. DCW played The Fat White Family’s infamous Slide In night in late 2013, with the FWF returning the favour by the antifolk fest, curated by DCW leader Tom Mayne, several months later. DCW have also supported The Fall and The Nightingales. The band have played three BBC 6 Music sessions (two for Marc Riley, one for Cerys Matthews).

DCW returned to the One Cat Studio in 2025 to record their new album, whose songs explore themes of love and sex, all with DCW’s trademark off-kilter lyrical approach. Case in point are Lot’s Daughters, a humorous retelling of the shocking biblical story, and Side A closer Mermaid’s Tale, which details the protagonist’s graphic encounter with a mermaid.

DATES
Thurs 28 May tbc
Fri 29 May. Bingley, Bingley Arts Centre
Sat 30 May. Sheffield, Mary St Live
Sun 31 May. Nottingham, The Grove
Tue 2 June. Edinburgh, Sneaky Pete's
Wed 3 June Newcastle, Little Buildings
Thu 4 June London. George Tavern