The Daily Spin, December 14
Valley | MAYBE
Welcome back to the Daily Spin, the series in which I review 365 albums during 2023.
Each album will be given a rating on a scale from 0 to 10. You can look at the entire set here. Additionally, you can check out a list of my favorite songs from each album right here.
Album: Maybe (2019)
Artist: Valley
Link:
This is the sort of easygoing California indie pop where, if you’ve heard one act, you’ve heard most of them. Think COIN, joan, The Band CAMINO, The Ivy - those sorts, heartache-laden surf rock with a healthy dose of post-2010s angst and the electronic touch that so often accompanies a record like this.
Valley stands out in a very crowded bar - though I generally prefer 2016’s This Room Is White, I wanted to touch on maybe because it has one of my favorite songs of all time in ‘There’s Still A Light In The House’ - as close to a ballad as these guys get, invoking tastes of Tor Miller with a keyboard-dominant, synth-backed ripper, three minutes and change of total sing-along goodness.
Does it always hit? Not necessarily. ‘Stock S.O.’ stands out as a poor imitation of Remi Wolf, but the rest of the album is pretty consistent. They know their formula, don’t see any need to deviate from it, and in doing so, create one of the best Hollywood pop albums of the late 2010s. That’s good enough for me.
Rating: 8.6/10
Best Tracks: There’s Still A Light In The House; A Phone Call In Amsterdam
Worst Tracks: Stock S.O.