Best of 2019 - Death Valley Girls Live at Saint Vitus

Still from “Wear Black” video by Brendan McKnight

Kicking off their true ripper of a debut album with the opening line “lightning can strike twice, or as much as you like” back in 2014, Death Valley Girls have been a nonstop force of nature ever since. Lightning definitely struck when the band rolled into Brooklyn this past August for a killer set at Saint Vitus Bar that brought together a packed house of friends and fans alike.

Before the show Alt Citizen met up with the band to reveal What’s In The Van and discuss the supernatural and extraterrestrial inspirations for the band’s psychedelic desert cult vibes. Later that evening the fantastic fourpiece took the stage and conjured up their signature blend of buzz-saw riffs and girl-gang choruses, whipping the crowd into a feel-good frenzy.

While they definitely shine on record, Death Valley Girls are a live band that’s not to be missed. Each member is absolutely magnetic, a collection of unique talents and vibrant personalities that come together with a powerful chemistry to form more than just a band. Bonnie and Pickle sparked and sizzled on stage with an electric attraction fueled by lacerating riffs slicing into the crowd from Larry’s amplifiers, while Rikki’s precision percussion hammered out a beat with the seductive power of an occult ritual mixed with the wild mechanical edge of a lone motorcycle ripping across the desert in the dead of night.

Rather than continue with a list of “I-guess-you-had­-to-be-theres,” check out the video for Wear Black, filmed on this exact evening by Los Angeles based director Brendan McKnight for a tantalizing taste of Death Valley Girls’ irresistible witchcraft.

Stream Death Valley Girls’ latest LP Darkness Rains on Spotify and follow the band on Instagram.