Death Valley Girls “Islands in the Sky” 2023. Suicide Squeeze Records on limited edition “Venus in Gemini” colored vinyl. Witchy garage psych drenched in spacey California stoner sunshine. Islands in the Sky is DVG’s fifth (I think) studio LP. We’ve been fans of the band since catching them at a hyper-intimate show back in August 2019 at Romanus Fest in Indianapolis (held inside a tiny record store, Square Cat Vinyl). Guitar and organ-forward with thick melodies and singer/frontwoman Bonnie Bloomgarden’s soaring vocals define all of DVG’s releases and Islands in the Sky is no exception, though this record feels a bit more anthemic and less garage-pop influenced –  like the opener “California Mountain Shake,” “Sunday” and the jangly “All That is Not of Me.”  That vibe is explained by Bloomgarden’s writing inspiration for the album while bedridden with illness for several months: “When I was sick, I started to wonder if it would be possible to write a record with messages of love to my future self. This was really the first time that I consciously thought about my own suffering and what future me might need to hear to heal. I struggled so much in my life with mental health, abuse, PTSD, and feeling like I didn’t belong anywhere. And I don’t want anyone—including my future self—to suffer ever again. I realized that if we are all part of one cosmic consciousness, as we [Death Valley Girls] believe, then Islands in the Sky could serve not only as a message of love and acceptance to myself, but also from every self to every self, because we are all one!”

There are exceptions to the down-to-midtempo vibes on Islands with some real banging ass-shakers like “Magic Powers” and “What are the Odds,” two of my favorite songs on the record. Also great: “Journey to Dog Star” is an exotic trance-dance and the previously released “When I’m Free” (a split single with Le Butcherettes), as I wrote in 2023 when the single was released, highlights all the best DVG have to offer: swagger, swirling keyboards and killer rhythm.