Rock n’ roll has always served as a means to elevate the fringe of society, though it’s accentuated the
plights of the outcasts and misfits in different ways throughout the years. In its infancy, rock was a playful rebuttal against segregation and Puritanism. In the ‘60s, it became a vehicle for an elevated consciousness. In the years following the Summer of Love and the clampdown on Flower Power, that countercultural spirit adopted the aggravated and occasionally nihilistic edge of bands like The Stooges, Black Sabbath, MC5, and The New York Dolls.
And then as the ‘80s approached, popular rock n’ roll turned into a relatively benign celebration of
hedonism and decadence, but that contingent of dark mystics from the ‘70s who lifted the veil and used music as a means of rallying people to altered planes had left their mark. It was an undercurrent in rock that would never die, but would percolate in corners of the underground. Today we can see it manifest in LA’s Death Valley Girls.
The group feels less like a band and more like a travelling caravan. At their core, vocalist/multi-
instrumentalist Bonnie Bloomgarden and guitarist Larry Schemel channel Death Valley Girls’ modern spin on Fun House’s sonic exorcisms, early ZZ Top’s desert-blasted riffage, and Sabbath’s occult menace. Their relentless touring schedule means that the remainder of the group is rounded out by whichever like-minded compatriots can get in the van.
In 2023, the band released their album, Islands in the Sky. Brooklyn Vegan reported that Islands is
"loaded with catchy psych-rock affirmations to the future." This album also saw the lineup reaching the form of Larry Schemel, Bonnie Bloomgarden, Sammy Westervelt, and Rikki Styxx.
“Learn from the stars and beyond! Be happy and thankful we got to live together on Earth at the same time! And death is just a shift—stay alive and awake,” Bloomgarden and Schemel respond when asked for a final thought on Death Valley Girls. “Embrace the darkness and don’t fear the Reaper.”
STUDIO ALBUMS
Street Venom (2014)
Glow in the Dark (2016)
Darkness Rains (2018)
Under the Spell of Joy (2020)
Islands in the Sky (2023)
DEATH VALLEY GIRLS - GLOW IN THE DARK 2016
Death Valley Girls’ sophomore album Glow In The Dark was based on the concept that many of us are
trying to become more enlightened, and you can tell by the way they ‘glow in the dark.’ Darkness Rains goes a step further, attempting to shift the consciousness of those that have not yet considered how we are all connected and how that relates to the way we view life beyond death. Those that ‘glow’ can use the songs on Darkness Rains as new chants—or they can be used for pure entertainment. “Songs come from beyond and other worlds, you just have to tune into the right radio wave signal to dial them in. Our signal happens to be in a 1970 Dodge Charger Spaceship,” says Schemel.
Album opener “More Dead” is a rousing wake up call, with a hypnotic pentatonic guitar riff and an intoxicating blown-out fuzz-wah solo underscoring Bloomgarden’s consciousness-rattling proclamation
that you’re “more dead than alive.” The pace builds with “(One Less Thing) Before I Die”, a minute-and-a-half distillate of Detroit’s classic proto-punk sound. But at track three, Death Valley Girls hit their stride with “Disaster (Is What We’re After)”, a gritty, swaggering rager that takes the most boisterous moments off Exile On Main Street and beefs it up with Zeppelin’s devil’s-note blues. Darkness Rains retains its intoxicating convocations across ten tracks, climaxing on an astral plane with the hypnotic guitar drones and cult-like chants of “TV In Jail On Mars.”
“Learn from the stars and beyond! Be happy and thankful we got to live together on Earth at the same
time! And death is just a shift—stay alive and awake,” Bloomgarden and Schemel respond when asked for a final thought on Death Valley Girls. “Embrace the darkness and don’t fear the Reaper.” Suicide Squeeze Records is proud to further the cause by releasing Darkness Rains on October 5th, 2018 on LP/CD/CS/ and digital formats. The first vinyl pressing is limited to 1,500 copies. Both the cassette and vinyl include digital downloads.
Death Valley Girls – Glow In The Dark
Label: Burger Records – BRGR933
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: Jun 10, 2016
Genre: Rock
Style: Garage Rock, Glam, Alternative Rock
TRAXS
01. Glow In The Dark
02. Disco
03. Death Valley Boogie
04. Seis Seis Seis
05. Pink Radiation
06. I'm A Man Too
07. Love Spell
08. Horror Movie
09. Summertime
10. Wait For You
LINE - UP
Bass, Organ – Bobby May (tracks: 9, 10)
Bass, Vocals – Laena Geronimo (tracks: 3)
Performer – Alana Amram, Bonnie Bloomgarden, Jessie Jones, Larry Schemel, Laura Kelsey
Written-By – Death Valley Girls, Skyhooks (tracks: 8)
Flac Size: 218 MB
DEATH VALLEY GIRLS - DARKNESS RAINS 2018
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 for Death Valley Girls 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 DVG 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 for Death Valley Girls.
The ten tracks here showcase a band that has a boatload 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.
Death Valley Girls – Darkness Rains
Label: Suicide Squeeze – SSQ164
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: Oct 5, 2018
Genre: Rock
Style: Altrnative, Garage Rock
TRAXS
01. More Dead 2:36
02. (One Less Thing) Before I Die 1:36
03. Disaster (Is What We're After) 3:37
04. Unzip Your Forehead 3:44
05. Wear Black 3:02
06. Abre Camino 4:42
07. Born Again And Again 3:47
08. Street Justice 2:40
09. Occupation: Ghost Writer 3:20
10. TV In Jail On Mars 5:47
LINE - UP
Bass, Vocals – Alana Amram
Bass, Vocals, Artwork – Nicole "Pickle" Smith
Drums – Laura Harris Drums, Vocals – Laura "The Kid" Kelsey
Guitar, Artwork – Larry Schemel
Guitar, Organ, Vocals, Artwork – Bonnie Bloomgarden
Organ, Keyboards – Glenn Brigman
Producer, Recorded By, Mixed By, Percussion – Mark Rains
Saxophone – Mark Cisneros, Sean Solomon
Vocals – Alex James, Kristen Leonard, Shannon Lay
Flac Size: 232 MB
DEATH VALLEY GIRLS; Street Venom (2014) & Under the Spell of Joy (2020) HERE