Download: The Valley Arena “Grayscale”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

(from “We Died” out now on JAXART)

Without employing tired band comparisons to the Valley Arena’s angular modern rock sound, it’s hard to put a finger on exactly what makes this band interesting. It might be the calculated bass and guitar composition, or it might be the varied song structure; it’s most likely that they are talented song writers. In an A.D.D.-addled music scene where every band around town has to have a gimmick—which isn’t always a bad thing—it’s still somehow refreshing to hear a three-piece that just writes high-quality, straight-forward rock songs. On their upcoming 7”, the Valley Arena gives us two barn burners in “Bait and Switch” and “Gray Scale” with a bonus Ikey Owens remix of “SOS4XOX.” The two originals on the A-side offer a peak into the brand new LP. Both songs function independently of one another, but are great counterparts and I hope that the full length can show the same cohesion. The B-side remix takes a third track off the LP and reconfigures it. I wish some more of the original guitars could have been incorporated into the remix, but it’s still worth a few spins. Since the full length download is offered with a purchase of the 7’’ you really can’t go wrong!

—James Cartwright