Proving they can fit right in with the big boys, Dorothy’s debut album provided a fresh vibe of stunningly addictive hard rock hits lead by namesake Dorothy Martin’s soulfully charming vocals. On first impressions, 28 Days In The Valley has seemingly moved the band from lively and aggressive to a country-esque bluesy record and given that the album artwork reads more like 28daySINthevalley there’s still a lingering hopefulness of that gritty and darker edge that listeners fell in love with on Rock Is Dead.
Coming in hot with a self love moment, ‘Flawless’ embraces a bad side of a relationship and coming out utterly flawless in the end. The opening track already pinpoints a turnover from the last album to now and the opening line; “You said you loved me, but you threw me out in the garbage. Now I’m starting to stink, but everybody thinks I’m flawless” has a amiable edge to it. ‘Who Do You Love’ brings back a slightly more Dorothy sound fans are accustomed to. A raging drum lead introduction with a feisty guitar whine is a familiar sound, but it’s the chorus of Dorothy Martin singing “Who do you love, when you’re loves run dry” stripped back of any instrumentals that hits you right in the gut and gives the song that much more life.
‘Pretty When You’re High’ and ‘Mountain’ bring out the distorted bluesy guitars, filling the album with desert rock vibes. Where as the high tempo ‘On My Knees’ sounds like the love child of a band jam session and surprisingly even samples some lyrics from Groove Armada’s ‘I See You Baby’. Hosting a very chilled out guitar melody, ‘Philadelphia’ brings out some very detached vocals compared to the prior tracks, almost like it’s not Dorothy Martin singing at all, which makes the track a stand out for it’s varied presentation.
28 Days In The Valley feels like it was made for the music system of a convertible speeding down the California highway, but that’s not to say you can’t listen to it on the way to work on a snowy day either. As the interlude states; “I’m young and I’m free, 28 days in the valley” there’s a whole lotta’ story wrapped up inside this 13-track abundance of alternative genres and you can just about feel the warmth of that California sun, only just though.
