Death Valley Girls introduced the world to 'Islands In The Sky' at intimate album release show
Album release shows are a celebratory moment. Smaller and more intimate, these events attract the most ardent and clued-in fans. It's a moment to share something special as a community with an artist, a launching point for new material in its most complete form to date and a safe space that rewards both familiarity and the desire for something fresh. Imbued with the same wide eyed optimism as a birth, a graduation, a wedding, Death Valley Girls introduced the enraptured audience at Gold Diggers to their latest LP, Islands In The Sky, and all in attendance bore witness to a band that continues to reach new heights of emotional awareness and collective inclusivity.
Skating Polly opened the show with a loud and unruly set that leaned heavily into the band's unabashed grunge worship, channeling the sounds and stylings of the Pacific Northwest with a healthy dose of potent riot grrrl attitude. Masters of the loud-soft-loud formula, Skating Polly juxtaposes raw, primal fury with melodic passages that instantly hone their blunt-instrument delivery into a finely honed weapon of emotional intensity, going for the jugular after delivering a flurry of concussive blows. Nirvana is an obvious influence, squint hard enough and there are moments that Kelli Mayo seems to transform into a resurrected Kurt Cobain, but the band frequently draws from more obtuse alt-rock standard bearers like Butthole Surfers, comfortably moving from one end of the spectrum to the other while making plenty of space between reference points for their own unique perspective.
The band focused the majority of their set on tunes from their earliest records. Beginning in 2011, Skating Polly initially attracted attention due to their ages, hovering in their early teens but displaying the musical and performative chops of artists much further along in their career. While there was an undeniable element of School Of Rock in the band's writing and stage presence, it was readily apparent that Skating Polly graduated magna cum laude and had rightfully earned their presence under the big lights. Now in their 20s, Mayo and step-sibling Peyton Bighorse are noticeably aging out of their earlier work's pre-teen poetics, but as the setlist progressed the band's sound began to blossom beyond established formulas into something more nuanced that showcased increasingly complex themes about life and growing up. With this in mind, Skating Polly is uniquely positioned to align the next phase of the band's growth and development with the burgeoning renewed interest in the late 90s and early 00s post-grunge revival for a spectacular second act and an overdue return to the front of the class.
When the time came for the evening's main event, Death Valley Girls coalesced upon the stage amidst a storm of feedback and driving rhythm. Each instrument fell into step slowly and methodically, a birth ritual that churned hypnotic, darkly inviting all to participate as the way forward was revealed to those with open minds. Lulling the audience into a trance before kicking into high gear with the transition from "Abre Camino" to "Street Justice," axe-master Larry Schemel unleashed a maelstrom of jagged riffs with buzzsaw furiosity, tearing through insane walls of feedback and static summoned from an abyss beyond the left of the dial. Rikki Styx's percussion rolled and churned with abandon like the last of the V8 interceptors tearing across an apocalyptic hellscape on a doomride into eternity, a wild-eyed foundation for Death Valley Girls to scrape the ceiling of the heavens attuned to the harmonious vibrations of the universe.
Death Valley Girls setlist was populated with heady selections from the band's entire catalog, a greatest hits of sorts that showcased the band at their very best alongside a handful of new tracks from the forthcoming Islands In The Sky. "What Are The Odds" was possessed of a scruffy effervescence that bopped along on a natural high before melding into the psychedelic keys that propelled "Disco" like a manic lo-fi sock hop celebration of camaraderie. Bassist Samantha Westervelt stepped up to the mic for "Magic Powers" with a vocal performance that proved a natural fit, fully enmeshed within the otherworldly complexities of the band's compositions and reinforcing the notion that Death Valley Girls are a band of equals, supporting each other completely on their shared journey toward personal empowerment. Underground legend Gregg Foreman, featured on Islands In The Sky, joined the band on stage for the swirlingly hypnotic "Sunday," augmenting Bonnie Bloomgarden's confessional lyrics with textual keys to produce a breathtakingly beautiful rumination on the seemingly infinite expanse of unsurmountable melancholy and the brilliant hopefulness that awaits on the other side.
Islands In The Sky is out February 24 on Suicide Squeeze. Preorder the album on CD and LP, and pre-save the album on streaming platforms here. Follow Death Valley Girls on Instagram.
Death Valley Girls Tour Dates
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02/12 Den Haag, NL @ Grauzone Fest
02/14 Utrecht, NL @ Db's
02/15 Amiens, FR @ La Lune des Pirates
02/16 Angers, FR @ Le Chabada
02/17 Vannes, FR @ L'Echonova
02/18 Paris, FR @ La Maroquinerie
02/20 Brussels, BE @ Botanique
02/22 Dudingen, CH @ Bad Bonn
02/23 Annecy, FR @ Hors Pistes Fest
02/25 Berlin, DE @ Berghain Kantine
02/28 London, UK @ Moth Club
03/01 Nottingham, UK @ Bodega
03/02 Newcastle, UK @ The Cluny
03/03 Manchester, UK @ Projekts Skatepark
03/04 Lille, FR @ L'Aeronef
03/07 Nimes, FR @ Paloma
03/09 Macon, FR @ Le Matilda
03/10 Bordeaux, FR @ Bordeaux Rock (festival)
03/11 St. Malo, FR @ La Route du Rock Hiver (festival)
03/14 Bisbee, AZ @ The Quarry
03/16 Austin, TX @ SXSW
03/17 Austin, TX @ SXSW
03/18 Oklahoma City, OK @ Beer City (FREE SHOW)
03/20 Denver, CO @ Lost Lake
03/21 Salt Lake City, UT @ Quarters
03/23 Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Festival
03/24 Reno, NV @ The Loving Cup
03/25 Oakland, CA @ Eli's Mile High Club
03/31 San Diego, CA @ Whistle Stop
04/01 Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriets