Death Valley High's forthcoming new EP, Duel, "severs the rules of a conventional release," according to the band, who describe it as their "equivalent to the modern-age mixtape." Due August 23rd via Minus Head Records, the EP is half cover songs, half remixes, and each track sees the L.A.-based "death disco" band pitting themselves against a different adversary/collaborator in a "duel," as title puts it. Those guests include Spirit in the Room, Chris Connelly (Revolting Cocks), Hanin Elias (Atari Teenage Riot) and, most notably, Deftones frontman Chino Moreno, who joins the group for a captivating cover of Christian Death's goth classic "Cavity - First Communion."
The cover has its origins in Death Valley High's 2014 tour with Moreno's band Crosses (†††). "We were on tour with Crosses on the East Coast and were all backstage hanging out," Death Valley High's Reyka Osburn recalls. "Chino had some music playing in the background for post-show vibes, and when this Christian Death song came on, I burst over to their room. We all fawned over our love for this particular record, Only Theater of Pain. By the end of 'Cavity-First Communion,' he says, 'We gotta play this song before the end of the tour!' 'DONE,' I firmly agree and added, 'We should RECORD it!' He looked at me with eyes ablaze and exclaimed, 'We can do ANYTHING!'
"Fast forward, the tour ends, and we never get a chance to play it! But I had already taken the collaboration to heart. DVH started discussing an all cover mixtape of sorts, one where we would collaborate with friends on each song. After prepping a rough draft, I sent it over to Chino's approving: 'I'm IN.' After some time went by, we realized our remake was just a little too faithful to the original, so we started asking, 'What's actually new here to offer?' If we had done it live, we probably would've done just that: a faithful tribute to a classic. But since we were committing to a studio recording, we all knew we had to circle back and rekindle it. After all, this was some sacred ground we were treading! We can now comfortably say that we've done our honest best — contributing to the original, not just done a cover for the sake of doing one."
Check out Death Valley High and Chino Moreno's captivating cover of "Cavity - First Communion" above, along with its moody music video, and see the cover art and full track listing for Duel below, as well as DVH's upcoming tour dates.
Duel track list:
1. "Here Comes the Rain" (Death Valley High vs. Chris Connelly)
2. "Cavity - First Communion" (Death Valley High vs. Chino Moreno)
3. "Cruel Summer" (Death Valley High vs. Hanin Elias)
4. "The Crab Song" (Death Valley High vs. Rykarda Parasol)
5. "Jump In The Fire" (Death Valley High vs. Spirit in the Room)
6. "SUNSHINE CLEANERS" (Death Valley High vs. Paul Wiley remix)
7. "MERCI" (Death Valley High vs. sondottir remix)
8. "The Present" (Death Valley High vs. Hounds remix)
9. "ICK SWITCH" (Death Valley High vs. Carlton Bost remix)
Death Valley High "The Art of the Duel" tour dates:
08/15: Sacramento, CA @ Press Club ∞
08/17: Los Angeles, CA @ Silverlake Lounge †
08/18: Tempe, AZ @ Yucca Taproom †
08/20: Las Vegas, NV @ The Boxx Eastside †
08/21: Pomona, CA @ Characters †
08/22: San Jose, CA @ Back Bar ∆
08/23: Santa Cruz, CA @ Poet & Patriot ∞
08/24: South Lake Tahoe, CA @ Whiskey Dicks ∞
support:
† THEM GUNS
∞ BITTER LAKE
∆ Rare Americans (headline)
