Death Valley Girls – Islands In The Sky review

Released in 2020, the relative success of Death Valley Girls Under The Spell of Joy was tempered by the on/off landscape for musicians that was the pandemic era and then with more gravity when singer Bonnie Bloomgarden succumbed to a mystery illness which kept her at home for several months.

During that period however she had plenty of time to pause and take stock, an excercise from which the inspiration for Islands In The Sky was taken. Lyrically exploring self realisation and sprinkled with a cosmic mantra or two, regular listeners will soon realise that even with the addition of new bassist and co-singer Sammy Westervelt the signature DVG vibe – psychedelic garage meets The Shirelles – has remained mostly intact.

It’s a combination that makes for some infectious left field noise, particularly Magic Powers hook-laden shout out to sorcery and the uber-kitsch opener California Mountain Shake. There are some interesting detours as well like Sunday’s nod to soul great Percy Sledge, but Bloomgarden’s imagination runs wildest on the our-place-in-the-universe themed It’s All Really Kind Of Amazing. Islands In The Sky is her band’s most out there record yet, and one worth coming back from the dead for.

You can read a full review here.