SLIMEHOLE Presents:

DEATH VALLEY GIRLS (Los Angeles, Suicide Squeeze)
https://deathvalleygirls.bandcamp.com/
CRAIG BROWN BAND (Detroit, Third Man)
http://craigbrownband.com/
PIRANHA RAMA (RVA)
https://piranharama.bandcamp.com/


Thursday August 22nd, 2019 @ Gallery 5 - RVA
7PM Doors // 8PM Sounds
$12 // All Ages
Tickets: https://tickets.vacomicon.com/events/deathvalleygirls

The return trip for DEATH VALLEY GIRLS is a long time coming, and hot on the heels of their new record for the amazing SUICIDE SQUEEZE RECORDS they're bringing the late 60s/early 70s psychedelic pop/fuzz to RVA's own GALLERY 5 late this August! DVG's sound harkend the days when new and exploratory sounds were constantly popping up in California with a blend of influences from classic rock riffage, 60s pop hooks, surfy pop melodies and plenty more killer surprises! They'll be bringing one of Detroit's finest on tour with them, THIRD MAN RECORDS rock and roll rulers CRAIG BROWN BAND of which the titular players was a member of cult rulers Terrible Twos! Opening this shindig will be RVA's top party starters, PIRANHA RAMA! When PR is opening, you know you're in for a full night of amazing festivities!

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DEATH VALLEY GIRLS: 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. On their third album Darkness Rains, bassist Alana Amram, drummer Laura Harris, and a rotating cast of guests like Shannon Lay, The Kid (Laura Kelsey) and members of The Make Up, The Shivas, and Moaning help elevate the band from their rogue beginnings to a communal ritualistic musical force. On the surface level, Death Valley Girls churn out the hypercharged, in the red, scuzzy rock every generation yearns for, but there is a more subversive force
percolating beneath the surface that imbues the band with an exhilarating cosmic energy.

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 late last year!