Review: The Valley’s ‘Wolf EP’ Is Balls-to-the-Wall Rock at Its Finest

Seattle heavies The Valley have just unleashed the Wolf EP, their latest release, and it is a howling affair. Opener “It’s Alright” hijacks the riff of “Chinese Rocks” by Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers and throws it into .38 Special’s Camaro and peels off down the road at high speed. It’s immediate, exciting, just-add-volume rock.

The pedal gets slammed to the metal with the punk frenzy of “She Said,” where you can practically see the band pogoing in the chorus. The sludgy guitars courtesy of Doug Manis (guitar) and Dan Beloit (guitar/vox), coupled with the boom of Tim Basaraba’s bass, give the band a lead-footed sound that is simultaneously buoyant; very similar to heavy rock pioneers Blue Cheer.

“Blameshifter” veers into Dinosaur Jr. territory and gives drummer Colin Faddis the opportunity to demonstrate that he is truly the pulse of the band, with his urgent, in-the-pocket drumming and tasty chops. Closing out the EP is “GEOWA,” and is by far the most epic track on this release. The song plays out like a mid-90s jam with loads of hooks, such as the sing-along chorus of “Come on now, is that the best you can do?”

Having seen The Valley live before, this will surely go down well in a live capacity, as well as the coda of “What are we gonna do?!” The drum and wah-guitar breakdown preceding is the musical highlight of the record. Overall the band’s performance is tight, volume-driven and sounds like jubilant sludge: just happy to be heavy.

(The Wolf EP is available through The Valley’s Bandcamp page via a name-your-price option. You can stream “GEOWA” below.)