Valley Lodge is basically the best rock band that you think you’ve never heard of, but that you already totally know. The band’s wildly popular song “Go” is the theme song to HBO’s late-night news satire program Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Valley Lodge is known for infusing their hook-saturated songs with a sense of humor – no surprise since they’re fronted by comedian Dave Hill – and although they are more famous in Japan than they are here in the States, that’s all about to change. The group’s new LP, Fog Machine (out on October 19 via Tee Pee Records), is a 14-track smorgasbord of unbelievably catchy tunes that will put you in its thrall and make you strut around the house doing Mick Jagger moves long after everyone else in the house is fast asleep. The group’s fourth album was recorded and mixed by Tom Beaujour (Guided By Voices, Nada Surf) at Nuthouse Recording in Hoboken, NJ and is the follow-up to Valley Lodge’s 2013 LP, Use Your Weapons, which was hailed as “chiming” by SPIN and “pretty rockin’” by The A.V. Club.
Valley Lodge consists of an all-star constellation of New York indie luminaries the aforementioned guitarist / vocalist Dave Hill (Painted Doll, ex-Cobra Verde, Sons of Elvis), guitarist / vocalist Phil Costello (Tragedy Witch Taint), bassist Eddie Eyeball (2 Skinnee J’s) and drummer Rob Pfeiffer (Sense Field). Valley Lodge plays music that has been called “Some of the best Power Pop since Cheap Trick’s glory days” and is highly recommended for fans of T. Rex, Big Star, Raspberries, Thin Lizzy, Matthew Sweet, Slade, the Kinks, and probably a bunch of other stuff too.
Today Glide is excited to premiere “Keeping This World Alive”, one of the standout tunes on Fog Machine. Though Dave Hill may be known as a funnyman, he has a serious rocker side that comes through in this tune. Although, by the title alone the song seems to tap into some of his trademark irony. Mostly though, this is triumphant rock and roll with a blistering guitar solo that forms a sort of centerpiece for the tune. With its mix of power pop and glam rock, the song is ultimately an empowering anthem for our troubled times with its fiery display of solid songwriting and musicianship.
In his own humorous words, Dave Hill has this to say about the song:
“”Keeping This World Alive” is the very last song we recorded for the new album, ‘Fog Machine’. It started off as more of a mid-tempo pop song but then we slowed it way down and that’s when it really tightened my pants. Our other guitarist, Phil Costello, plays a great harmonized guitar solo with an E-bow on the outro too. I’ve been trying to get an E-bow solo on a record ever since I was a teenager and now that I’m sitting here thinking about it, I still haven’t done it – it was somebody else. Dammit. Life is bullshit.”
LISTEN:
Fog Machine is out on October 19. PRE-ORDER
