Vally Girls

If you like The White Stripes and/or The Black Keys (though apparently they hate each other) there is no reason for you not to check out Deap Vally. What sets them apart from the one-guitar-one-drummer schtick is that they are both ladies. Usually when I hear about a band I go over to AllMusic to read about them; when I got to the line about forming an image around halter tops and short-jeans-shorts I was pretty much sold. Couple that with the story that guitarist Lindsey Troy met drummer Julie Edwards in what is a total rocknroll move: a crocheting class the latter was teaching.

The released an EP called Get Deap! and followed it with an LP called Sistrionix. The EP contains one song that did not make the LP.

What's the music like? It rocks. It's sleazy, it's scuzzy, all those adjectives used to describe rock at it's most primal. Or at it's most elemental, primitive. The song titles reflect that: "Gonna Make My Own Money," "Baby I Call Hell," "Walk Of Shame," "Bad For My Body," and "Woman of Intention" stand out. it isn't earth shattering, it isn't particularly new sounding. They don't jerk off on the guitar like Jack White does, they aren't perhaps the most technically proficient. But they do riff and they lay down a clobber of a beat. There are no plaintive acoustic numbers. There is a George Jones talking bit in side 2 opener "Lies" where they say things like "I thought we agreed/You wouldn't have the need to spread your seed." OK.

A bass player wouldn't hurt but whatever. I enjoy the record. It goes by quickly, which is in now way a bad thing. It isn't the worst of all things: boring. It's fun. I imagine they'd be a trip to see live. This is another band that should be getting played on Little Steven's Underground Garage. I often say they should swap their 3:1 old/new ratio.

Here's the quoted "Lies." Enjoy!

Favorite Albums of 2012 - Number 6

Pop music has been taken over by the likes of Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber and the new assemblage of boy bands. That is all well and good. Pop music leans towards the lowest common denominator; in order to sell records you have to reach the most people and to do that you need to offend or alienate the least amount of people. Guitar bands aren't really found much at the top of the charts, except you're the Foo Fighters and they pretty get to be there because pop has to have one guitar band it likes. But their are plenty of bands with guitars that are making great records that have a space where they exist and get heard.

Nude Beach - II

After running he gamut of grunge to psych to prog to alt country, we come to indie rock band Nude Beach. Their latest record is called II and is a short little record. Ten songs of 60s inspired American garage rock; it gets in and gets out. It's not particularly deep or thought-provoking, but that's perfectly fine! Music at its essence is just having a good time, of enjoying the melody and enjoying the day; of tapping your shoe to the beat. Nude Beach do that very well. This is one of those summer day with the top down kind of records. The record nods to the power-pop forebears like The Hollies and The Beach Boys and Big Star, but retains a modern sound. I like this record much better than the Japandroids new record, which is the one  currently making it to the top of the best of lists. I think this record has more life breathed into it.

Here is the video for the lead track "Radio:"

Up next: the best record Elvis Costello never made!