Death Valley Girls – “Under the Spell of Joy”

You know in this job, sometimes when you get a record sent to review you immediately build a picture of what that band will sound like based on their name. I admit I did that here when Under the Spell of Joy, the latest full length from LA’s Death Valley Girls landed. Not knowing the band, I had naively prepared for a pedestrian rockabilly record, but was slapping myself silly when I realised how wrong I’d been. Yes, there are fuzzed garage rock guitars, heavy bass lines, moody organ, saxophones (yes, saxophones!) and trippy vocals that sound like the love child of Florence Welch and Marie Laveau but it just fucking works so well.

The record kicks off with Hypnagogia, a track sounding like the theme to all of the best 80’s cop shows, complete with moody organ and a saxophone that has no right to sound as good as does. With a trippy vocal telling a story of differing plains of consciousness, this sets one hell of a benchmark. Pleasingly, that level is maintained into Hold My Hand and the title track, both fuzzed out garage rockers.

Hey Dena, The Universe and It All Washes away are interesting, but don’t hold your ear in the same way the LP’s earlier tracks do and the saxophone starts to sound a little gratuitous, especially on It All Washes Away. The heavy garage rock vibe returns with a vengeance on 10 Day Miracle Challenge, punctuated with spiky guitar riffs and frenetic, hook laden chorus. The moody organ is back to open I’d Rather be Dreaming, a track that evokes the spirit of every film noir genre piece ever made. Easily the highlight of the LP is Bliss Out, an achingly catchy tune that effortlessly combines 60’s pop sensibilities and heavily distorted guitars delivering lyrics like “Be, be here right now, because we’re all gonna die”.

Death Valley Girls are at their best when they strike the balance between distortion laden garage rock and a desert death march and the cosmic, distinctly Californian vibe of their vocals. I am seriously happy to admit I had this record pegged all wrong – it is original, it is memorable and simply one of the best records I have heard in a long time.