Music / rock

Island in the sky


Reviews (3)


The Arts Desk

d. 22. Feb. 2023

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By

Guy Oddy

d. 22. Feb. 2023

"Upbeat bubblegum psychedelic pop tunes rub shoulders with woozy and spaced-out vibes in a heady brew of dayglow grooviness that is aimed straight at the hips. In fact, as with 2020's Under the Spell of Joy album, Islands in the Sky sees the Death Valley Girls edging away from the more hard-edged garage punk of their previous disc, Darkness Rains, and towards the middle of the dance floor, hand-in-hand with the B-52s and the Dandy Warhols - with wide eyes and big smiles on their faces ... Recent single, "Magic Powers", is a fine slice of sunny power pop, "Watch the Sky" is glorious hip-swinging stuff, and "When I'm Free" has a wild go-go groove and even shades of Madonna's "Borderline". Yet there is still more than a whiff of trippy beat pop within the dead pan vocals, reverb and bursts of swirling Hammond organ".


The line of best fit

d. 6. Mar. 2023

By

By

Emma Way

d. 6. Mar. 2023

"Death Valley Girls have collectively crafted a record worthy of their dusty Californian roots, an album which is a step up from any previous works featuring some of their most infectious jaunts".


Glide magazine

d. 23. Feb. 2023

By

By

Shawn Donohue

d. 23. Feb. 2023

"Death Valley Girls continues their melding of dreamy psych excursions, 50's girl group pop, and garage rock riffs ... A buzzing/pulsing intro of mysterious vocals and ominous drums greet the listener on album opener "California Mountain Shake" as the band keeps their fluttering psych rock flowing, adding swelling strings and a sense of lost love to close the swirling track. Shifting gears they pump up the shimmy and shaking on the new wavey jam "Magic Powers" before the group lay down a garage rock foundation, only to soar away from it via intriguing harmonies and rising anthemic pop on the dynamic title track ... Death Valley Girls have softened musically with each release, adding more pop influences, and digging more into the spiritual hippy cosmos of the we-are-all-in-this-together vibe. They also have continually improved, as Islands in the Sky is their best album to date".