I imagine than Toronto-based quartet Valley make the kind of pop that Butch Walker would love: vulgar, yet completely inoffensive. They know how to put on a helluva party, but a party which your parents are well aware of and hope is enjoyed by all of those who attend. The band recently kicked off a nearly-sold-out US tour that had them playing to a capacity audience at The Foundry, last Saturday, February 19th. And while the crowd tended to be of the yuppie variety (in which cases they were old enough to drink and get themselves to the venue), it managed to be one of the best shows the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection has seen all year.
Like singer, songwriter, and performer extraordinaire Butch Walker, Valley managed to put on a first-rate Rock N’ Roll spectacle without the benefit of any of the cliches that often accompany the designation (arenas, pyrotechnics, multi-level stages, etc.) The band’s 19-song, 90-minute set boasted tracks from The After Party, a 3-song EP that dropped last month and followed-up last year’s Last Birthday EP, in addition to their second and third full-lengths (2016’s The Room is White and 2019’s Maybe). The evening’s two biggest highlights, however, came from 2020’s sucks to see you doing better EP: beyond-infectious suburban teen angst anthem “nevermind,” which came two-songs in, and “homebody,” perhaps their most groovy and introspective number, which closed out the main set.
Although Valley may just resemble some young white kids from… Toronto, I guess… their command over the nightclub audience – who bounced in unison with frontman Rob Laska all night long and regularly drowned out the band – was masterful. Last year Valley found themselves playing festivals like WonderBus in Columbus and BottleNeck in Napa Valley, in addition to a run of dates supporting COIN. And, if their 2022 shows are any indication, they seem to be well on their way to headlining those very same stages. Valley are one of those bands that remind you that “pop” shouldn’t necessarily be a bad word.
