The news this week from the Billboard charts was bleak for rock music fans. Drake has more songs on the Hot 100 than the ENTIRE genre of rock music! Maybe rock music just needs Superman to come save it.. or maybe it actually needs Superwoman. Enter DOROTHY - the female-fronted, raw-throated, bluesy rocking throwback band that will make you wanna listen to FM radio in the summer and believe that rock 'n roll is alive and well.
With the second full length album 28 Days in the Valley, Dorothy deftly avoids a sophomore slump by enlisting the help of superstar producer / songwriter Linda Perry, who has always differed from the crop of super producers by basically becoming a band member of whichever chanteuse she chooses to work with that year. Dorothy has soaked up Perry's influence, and the result is a huge leap forward for the band. Some may miss the full throttle rocking of their debut, but subsequent listens should leave even the most jaded rock fan satiated.
28 Days in the Valley kicks off with the aptly named "Flawless", their current single thats been getting airplay on rock radio. From the warm tone of the twanging guitar and the sheer swagger of Dorothy's first vocals “You said you loved me but you threw me out in the garbage, Now I'm starting to stink but everyone thinks I'm flawless”, the tone is set. The driving beat and the Grace Slick style wailing of the vocals carries us into the the second track "Who Do You Love". But just when you think its going to be a driving rock album, melody takes over with the catchy pseudo ballad "Pretty When You’re High", with lyrics that read like an ode to the quintessential California surfer boys of decades past. From the folksy sing along of "Mountain", the ode to the road on "Freedom", to invoking God and the Devil on "White Butterfly", 28 Days in the Valley takes us back to the 70's with just a flashback of 60's psychedelia.
Track 8 sounds exactly like the opening track of side 2 of an album. We are treated to a rowdy rocker called "On My Knees" complete with an infectious chorus. Musically & lyrically, the songs get darker throughout the second half of the album . "Black Tar & Nicotine" is the only track written solely by Linda Perry and quite honestly, sounds like it should be the sequel to "Knock Me Down" from Perry's amazing yet overlooked solo album, In Flight . Another highlight is "Philadelphia", a haunting song reminiscent of "Tusk" era Fleetwood Mac and features a wailing Buckingham style solo.
But Dorothy knows what brought them this far and the album ends with the 1-2 punch of "We Are STAARS" and "We Need Love". Pounding rhythms, wailing vocals - it all equals a much needed reminder that rock isn’t dead yet.
Dorothy released the second full-length album 28 Days in the Valley on March 9th, and lead single “Flawless” is out now!
The band is managed by Linda Perry & Kerry Brown at We Are Hear and represented by Roc Nation.
DOROTHY will be LIVE next in Las Vegas on July 14 at Beauty Bar Downtown Fremont
Dorothy Martin – Lead vocals
Owen Barry – Guitar
Jason Ganberg – Drums, percussion
Eli Wulfmeier – Guitar, backing vocals
Eliot Lorango – Bass, backing vocals
Listen to New single "Flawless" from 28 Days in the Valley by DOROTHY