Death Valley Girls ascend to a new musical realm on ‘Islands in the Sky’
On their latest album, the LA-based garage rockers explore their softer side through a triumphant track list that contends with topics that are bigger than any one band.
Photo: Neto Velasco
For the past decade, Death Valley Girls have used their catchy melodies, trippy instrumentation and cosmic lyrics in albums like Glow In The Dark (2016) and Under the Spell of Joy (2020) to communally challenge the monotony of our daily lives, and celebrate our infinite potential as energetic beings. In their latest album, Islands in the Sky, however, the LA-based garage rockers have instead challenged their reality on a more personal level, using their deep spirituality and openness to otherworldly possibilities to generate a track list that celebrates the journey of life, love and self-healing.
Opening with the ominous drumbeat, hazy synth organ and pronounced twang of Larry Schemel’s guitar, California Mountain Shake creates a sense of anticipation for the rest of the album. It asks for patience in the ambitious journey of spiritual healing that the album sets out to achieve, and teases us into the more triumphant Magic Powers. By using danceable new wave rhythms, Death Valley Girls successfully transform feelings of isolation and powerlessness into the key to success through this garage rock bop, before continuing the lesson in how to overcome hard times with the anthemic title track.
Sunday then slows things down again with its steady organ chords and light percussion to create a musical breathing space, while Bonnie Bloomgarden contends with her personal struggles in soulful and emotive lyrics. Before the band’s pent-up energy is released again in the song’s punky ending.
Serving as a standout moment on the album, the reality questioning, Madonna-esque track, What Are the Odds, takes Islands in the Sky to its mid-way climax via catchy lyrics and danceable instrumentation. While the second half of the record begins to mellow with the hypnotic Journey to Dog Star, which uses synth and a heavy drumbeat to create a dazed effect alongside the chant-like vocals that are reminiscent of the occult.
Say It Too continues the relaxed vibe of the second half through a Death Valley Girls spin on a 50s love song, while Watch the Sky’s driving drumbeat leaves plenty of space for the band to be playful with their synth instrumentation and captivating melodies.
By beginning with Bloomgarden’s isolated vocals, the next track — When I’m Free — feels as though the garage rockers are sharing their new mantra: “What’s meant to be / Happens for me / When I’m free.” Meanwhile, the song’s jazzy electro keys and swirling guitar solo encourages a feeling of freedom and openness to new possibilities, whilst also successfully resurrecting the celebratory mood of the album’s earlier tracks.
All That Is Not Of Me passes by as a final lesson in Death Valley Girls’ crash course in how to overcome hard times, with the regimented lyrics asking us to get rid of the things that no longer serve us. This final lesson then sets the foundation for It’s All Really Kind of Amazing to encourage a feeling of optimism via its warm guitar chords and choir-like backing vocals, therefore bringing a positive end to an album that contends with so much.
In taking us through their own journey of self-healing, Death Valley Girls have produced a softer album that often acts as a handbook on how to use spiritually to deal with life’s difficulties. But even while focusing on these cerebral topics, the album avoids becoming too intellectual, with the band’s exploration of these issues regularly giving way to a triumphant and infectious celebration of all that being alive has to offer.
Islands in the Sky is out now via Suicide Squeeze Records.