In their newest album, Darkness Rains the LA band, Death Valley Girls let dark tunes reign. The four musicians put together an album that loudly bangs in an indie/punk/rock/alternative style, and the resulting ten songs are creations of noise, heavy with bass and drums. Due to the volume levels and the style of voice the lyrics are hard to decipher, although the tunes deliver the dark messages anyway. With angry and unapologetic energy, the Death Valley Girls sing about death, seeking disaster, and wearing black. The meanings behind the loud rhythmic yells are messages that could be more clearly brought across, for example in the lead song ‘More Dead’, which calls awareness to mental health in regard to the danger of suicide.
Staying within the frame of chaotic vibrations and high pitched yells, the ten songs in Darkness Rains have diverse and attention-grabbing beginnings. While ‘(One Less Thing) Before I Die’ jumps right into a whirlwind of bass and drums, ‘Born Again and Again’ instead features an initial scratching noise quickly followed by more melodious tunes.
Among the clatter of voices, drums, electric guitars and bass, the songs in the Death Valley Girls’ third album just don’t have the time and space for finer nuances of motion. Sometimes it is crucial to understand the lyrics to understand the anger, sadness, or energy of a song, however these restraints can fly off in the crazy universe that the Death Valley Girls create.
The album closes with ‘TV in Jail on Mars’, which, after nine blasts of energy, surprises with its friendliness. At 5 mins 47 secs it is the longest song in the album and throughout, the Death Valley Girls create a vocal background – a more melodious closing to a heavy album.
With its unapologetic bold approach to expression and manic-dance encourage-ness, this album is for rock, punk, indie, and alternative music fans.
[Leilo Albrecht]
[Image credit: Guido van Nispen]
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