Death Valley Girls “Darkness Rains”

We know you shouldn’t get sucked in by a name, but come on, who could resist a band with the name Death Valley Girls!! Possibly one of the best band names we’ve seen. It immediately screams of coolness and danger so we could only hope that the music lives up to that image.

Thankfully from opening track “More Dead” it’s apparent that the band name perfectly matches their sound. It’s appealing and catchy but also with an off kilter feel that is slightly unnerving. Together with tracks like “Unzip Your Forehead” and “Born Again And Again” they somehow manage to inter-twine both a hard rocking edge but also a more brooding and menacing sound.

None of that is to say that the band aren’t also able to just simply rock out as well. “(One Less Thing) Before I Die” is a brilliant rock song which has a rough and ready Stooges feel to it. Similarly, you have the dirty garage rock n roll feel of “Disaster (Is What We’re After)”. Indeed, we are sure that Mr Pop would be a huge fan of the almost sixties flavoured “Wear Black” and “Street Justice”. The final song on the album “TV in Jail On Mars” almost makes you feel that you are being drawn in to a cult, with its repeated refrain and hypnotic sound. It’s therefore probably not surprising that by the end we felt like escaping to a hot, sandy, desert….so be careful!

Strangely this album reminds us of another band that we thought had a really cool name, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. However, they actually end up disappointing us with their material. This is totally different, by the end of listening to this album, the last thing you are worried about is how cool the band name is. Instead you’re left with the feeling that you have just heard something very special. This is an album that you feel could be looked back on as an absolute classic. That’s pretty unusual in these times of disposable music, so you’d better grab a copy of this as soon as you can.