Death Valley High - a B-Movie Medley
Death Valley High is the sophmore album from British punk-rockers Zombina and the Skeletones and is, like everything they produce, nothing short of amazing. While Zombina may not be a recognised name outside of the horror-punk and rockabilly circles, they are a class-A act. The only thing holding them back from the fame and mainstream appeal they rightly deserve is the subject matter of their songs, which frequently venture into some pretty dark territory. While this is often played off in a campy comedy-horror sort of way, I can see it putting a lot of people off.
This "problem" is significantly lessened in Death Valley High, in part down to the album's commitment to its premise: it's a concept album, acting as a soundtrack to B-movie that doesn't exist (apparently due to budget constraints on behalf of the band). So while there is the occasional song about slasher rampages and world-ending calameties, it comes off as pretty light by comparison.
The concept itself is very well executed, with all of the songs being utilised to tell parts of the main story, or fill in background details about the world. This theming also extends to the album's booklet, which includes a yearbook spread showing the characters, and features lyrics scrawled across report cards and worksheets, reported in newspaper clippings, and written in the form of a high-school love letter.
The story focuses on Janie, a monster-movie obsessed loner with a crush on the most popular boy in school, who happens to be a mad-scientist with a penchant for ray-guns. You know, the highschool experience. As well as preppy cheerleaders, the school also plays hosts to the rebellious weirdo kids, known as the Lost Boys. Outside of the schoolyard, lurking within the town is the shady government organisation known as the G.R.A. Not much is known about them, and honestly, their inclusion feels like the weakest part of the narrative; they aren't ever really explained, they're just there.
Anyways, the story is as follows; Janie is going about her day to day school life, fantasizing about zombie movies and highschool romance, seemingly oblivious to the existance of her ideal clique, the Lost Boys. They're out every night getting upto mischeif, having sex, and sticking it to the man, in this instance, the GRA. Through a series of bad luck, Janie seems to keep missing every opportunity to meet them, and so instead resigns hereself to staying at home and watching movie marathons on T.V.
All this changes when she receives a love letter from Andy, the school heart-thob (and afore-mentioned evil genius) who invites her to prom. Prom night arrives, and Janie is typically running late. With the main school doors locked up, she sneaks her way in, only to find her beloved Andy dancing with another girl Hayley. Whether the plan had always been to embarrass Janie like this, or if he thought she wasn't coming, and chose Hayley as his plan B is never explored, but in either event, Janie flys into a fit of jealous rage, snatches up a knife, and beheads he rival right there and then. Janie then turns on her fellow classmates, though her rampage is cut short when she is snatched up and imprisoned by the G.R.A.
After a year imprisoned by the feds, she breaks out (with the help of the Lost Boys who I assume were also being captured and imprisoned with her? It's a little unclear) steals one of Andy's rayguns and continues her massacre, killing everyone in her town. The album ends with her crouched over Andy's grave, laying her annual offering of flowers and lamenting the romance they could have had together.
So, while the story and tone could be easily summed up as "Carrie meets Troma", the music itself is a lot more difficult to pigeonhole, drawing from a wide range of influences. There's their usual base of punk, new wave and doo-wop, which they then add to with elements of electro-punk, bubblegum, and accapella, which all come together to create a sound that fits right at home with the album's presumed setting in the 60s/70s (the arguable height of B-movies). Each track is styilistically distinct, and helps to convey the ideas and match thestory beats of the main plot thread. It's not hard to imagine what a Death Valley High film may have looked like, given the album's strong presentation and identity.
I'm very lucky to have seen this band live, and own a copy of this album signed by guitarist/backing singer Doc Horror (Zombina was ill that night, and rather than cancel the show, they instead performed a mostly-instrumental set, definitly a unique experience). If my rambling has made you want to experience this wonder of an album for youself, it's available on bandcamp here: Buy "Death Valley High" ↗.
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