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Valleys: Rivers Run

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Valleys: Rivers Run
Built around the core of founders Marc St.Louis and Matilda Perks, Valleys (formerly There Were Valleys) has seen its share of membership trials and tribulations, with the age-old band issue of the revolving musician door.

Firmly ensconced for the last year, Valleys is now a true-blue quartet rounded out by Pascal Oliver on bass and the venerable Patrick Conan (Tricky Woo, Jason Kent, Land of Kush) on drums. Although pillars of the Montreal scene for years now, Valleys had only a mere CD-R (2007’s Night Wars) to its name, therefore news of its association with Semprini Records for the release of its debut record on September 8th Sometimes Water Kills People was greeted with sighs of impatience and relief. «We made a record before that we put out ourselves,» mentions St. Louis. «We didn’t actually put it out. We sold it at shows.» «That was three years ago, so yeah, we definitely consider this our debut,» adds Perks.

Following their seemingly predetermined mantra of slow and steady wins the race, the album was conceived and birthed at a natural pace. «This one, we started recording it over two years ago, and we did it over a year, kind of slowly,» says St. Louis. Having the luxury of working with a friend in their home studio allowed the multi-instrumental duo to tweak and turn the material inside out and upside down. Nevertheless, St. Louis and Perks still had to present the final package to their new bandmates, themselves responsible for bringing the record to life. «When I joined originally, I just wanted to honor the record,» states bassist Oliver. «It seemed like for the first three shows we were like a cover band for ourselves the Valleys cover band! Then at one point it actually seemed like, yeah, okay, we actually own this music. And at that point we started branching off.»

Darkness Lies Behind the Light
For a band that’s been around the block, Valleys are not one to overplay their stay on Montreal stages, almost adding to the mythical aura surrounding their rare live appearances. This has always been a conscious decision by the band not to overexpose themselves to fickle island audiences. With a local launch this month, and a North American jaunt planned in October, many folks here and abroad will definitely be talking about Valleys and Sometimes Water Kills People.

The album marks a departure for the band. Gone are the light psych, folk-pop ditties of yore, replaced with a more sinister edge, a darker undercurrent and sonic quality, expanded instrumentation and unmanned forays into cool nethers of experimentalism.

The darkness is evident to Oliver. «From what I know of Marc, I’d say yeah! When my girlfriend heard it she said: ‘Oh awesome, bummer rock!’ I didn’t even really realize this. We play bummer rock, thorn-in-your-side kind of music. The dance era has come and gone and we’ve weathered the storm, and now we’re back to bummer rock.» No need to worry though, it’s all good.

September 11
Casa del Popolo | 4873, Sst-Laurent | 514.284.0122

myspace.com/valleysvalleysvalleys

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