Album of the Week: DEATH VALLEY GIRLS – “Darkness Rains”

We’ve only been waiting a little over two years with bated breath for “Darkness Rains“, the third release from California’s Death Valley Girls; anxious only because after the promise of 2014’s “Street Venom” and the astounding “Glow in the Dark” back in 2016, it seemed like it could be a tall order to move the dial.

Well it may be a cliché to say a band is evolving, finding themselves, maturing if you will, but “Darkness Rains” finds DVG reaching another level.

The third album can be a difficult hurdle for an artist; it’s the record where they discover what they are made of often writing from a clean slate. Just as Led Zeppelin’s third album or The Clash with “London Calling” found the iconic bands hitting their stride, “Darkness Rains” hits the target for DVG.

The ten tracks here showcase a band that has a shitload of confidence in their writing and sound, shedding a touch of the fuzzy garage rawness of “Glow in the Dark” for a tighter, leaner more glammed out Stooges-proto-metal hell-spawn type of rock and roll.

Psychedelic haze, giant arena rock riffs, scuzzed-out wah-wah solos from Larry Schemel litter practically every song, with vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Bonnie Bloomgarden’s banshee wail leading wicked sing-along choruses. Bassist Alana Amram and drummer Laura Harris combine for a gut punch of a rhythm section.

It’s gothic, it’s psychedelic, it’s hypnotic, it’s rock and roll. “Darkness Rains” is an omnipotent force and Death Valley Girls are on the cusp of something big.

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SUICIDE SQUEEZE

TOUR
10/14
Lake Perris, CA @ Desert Daze

10/18
Riverside, CA @ Aurea Vista

10/19
Las Vegas, NV @ Bunkhouse Saloon

10/20
Tempe, AZ
@ Yucca Tap Room

10/21
Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress

10/23
Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas

10/24
Dallas, TX @ Regal Room

10/25
Norman, OK @ Opolis

10/26
Memphis, TN @ The Hi Tone

10/29
Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery

10/30
Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie

10/31
New York, NY @ Knockdown Center, Haunted Hop

11/01
New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge

11/02
Cleveland, OH @ The Winchester

11/03
Detroit, MI @ Deluxx Fluxx

11/04
Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen

11/05
Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club

11/07
Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge

11/08
Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge

11/09
Boise, ID @ The Olympic

11/11
Chico, CA @ Duffy’s

11/13
Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios

11/14
Vancouver, BC @ Fox Cabaret

11/15
Bellingham, WA @ The Shakedown

11/16
Seattle, WA @ Freakout Festival

11/17
Eugene, OR @ Old Nicks

11/20
San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop

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Cribs

One foot in the door
The other one in the gutter

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