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DEAP VALLY
"Marriage" (Cooking Vinyl; 2021)
Reviewed by Snidermann
I have found a new band to dig although they stumped me at the same time and that band is Deap Vally.
Deap Vally consists of two females from Los Angeles: one on guitar, one on drums and both singing. I have always been a bit suspicious of bands with only two members but, after listening to The White Stripes, Royal Blood, The Black Keys and The Kills I can see why this can work. I always thought you needed at least three to form a band but what the hell do I know. I just review them! These two women have been doing this since 2011.
This recording is entitled "Marriage," and, because of that title, I have to think the band members consider being in a band is a lot like being in a marriage and I think that may be accurate. I have never been in a band myself, but I have been married for thirty-seven years and there are ups and downs.
"Marriage," the album, contains plenty of in-your-face music, heavy chord progression and drums that jump out of the recording. Since those are the only instruments (other than voices), you would think they would have to jump out and that they do. I can hear a lot of influence from female singers that have come before like Cyndi Lauper, Pat Benatar, L7, The GoGo’s, The Bangles and Madonna among others. This band has a totally unique sound ... a flavor, perhaps, is a better way to describe it. It's strange to say that an artists sounds like others and yet still sound entirely like themselves, but that's the case here. Deap Vally say are who they are musically but their influences are clear. And no one can dictate who they are except themselves.
To say I have been having a hard time trying to pin down just what this band is about would be a fucking understatement. I have been reviewing music for twenty-three years (holy shit!), and I have yet to find a band that stumped me the way Deap Vally has. How do you evaluate a band you do not understand and, after twenty-three years, you'd think I have this down pat but, alas, I do not.
Okay. After careful consideration, I think I may have been thinking about this all wrong. Instead of thinking, not knowing, this band as a negative, I should be celebrating it, not degrading it. Isn’t that what good music does, make us think, makes us go into your mind to that place that only music can unlock? When I started this review, I was thinking that "Marriage" would rate a very low score. But then I realized that, why the hell should I do that when I just don’t understand it?
So, okay, I am going to give "Marriage" a very respectable three guitarsaws. Why not 4 you ask? Well, I always have the option to change my review later, after I think more about what I heard, but as of now I will stick with my score.
Keep up the good work, Deap Vally, and keep this reviewer on his toes!
For more information, check out https://www.deapvally.com/.
Rating Guide:
A classic. This record will kick your ass.
Killer. Not a classic but it will rock your world.
So-so. You've heard better.
Pretty bad. Might make a nice coaster.
Self explanatory. Just the sight of the cover makes you wanna hurl.
Copyright © 2021 by R. Scott Bolton. All rights reserved.
