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 Death Valley Girls 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 . 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.
released October 5, 2018
The Fat Angel Sings 