Los Angeles based scuzzy rockers Death Valley Girls have a reputation for neck-break speed ear-splitting riffs blended with pop harmonies. Damian Robinson caught up with the band to chat about their new album ‘Darkness Rains’ and their upcoming tour of the UK.
We’re loving the new album with its catchy melodies and loaded guitars. A few months on from its release how do you feel when you look back on the album?
We’re very proud of it and happy with how it all came out, it was a long year of touring so to find time to work on it was trick but we made it happen!
The album’s been getting rave reviews including a special note in LA Weekly as one of the albums of the year. Are you affected by critical praise?
It does feel good to get good reviews and to be on end of year lists but we’re also very critical of our own work and don’t want to get too caught up with reviews, positive or negative, because you can start to either be complacent or second guess your own instincts with writing songs or trying out new ideas. We want to always have fun making music without worrying about what critics opinions will be.
Lead single ‘Disaster (Is What We’re After)’ has a psychedelic meets pop feel, how was it created?
That song was around for a while – before we came up with the final version, we had a couple different versions that we had worked on during practices until it finally came together one day in a flash of inspiration. Bonnie had the lyrics and melody ready to go but the band had not clicked on the music until one day the guitar riff and organ part appeared out of nowhere. We jammed on a bit, Bonnie sang and there it was!
You’ll be out touring in early March; with a reputation for a relentless show, how challenging is it to maintain your dynamic each night?
We love touring and playing every night. When we tour we get into a good rhythm as a band and we like the non-stop schedule of the road. It does get stressful and you have to take care of yourself so you don’t get sick & it’s tough to get enough sleep but we’re doing what we love every night and that makes up for any of the negative sides of touring.
You’re playing Newcastle as one of only 5 UK dates. Was there a particular reason you’ve chosen to play up here?
We’re excited to play Newcastle because we never have! We’d like to think our booking agent chose it because The Animals are from there and we love that band and we also love real animals and we’re excited to see what kind of animals we’ll meet in Newcastle!
‘Darkness Rains’ is out now. Death Valley Girls play The Cluny on 3rd March.