Kevin Bronson on August 5th, 2016

2

L.A. quartet Valley Queen’s new single “In My Place” deals with a lot of geography, personal and environmental. Anyone who witnessed the band’s fairly rapturous residency last month at the Bootleg Theater know how expansive they can sound — classic California rock spiked with soul and Southern grit and drenched in Natalie Meadors’ silvery, quavering vocals. Here, the Arkansas native is “betting on some kind of transformation,” maybe “out in California / where no one ever dies / or admits to growing older.” The slow-building tune explodes over blasts from the rhythm section of Neil Wogensen and Gerry Doot, and Sean Morones’ guitar riff, which feels as big as the coastline itself. The single is officially out Aug. 12, with “High Expectations” on the flip side. The live version (and, we suspect, the album version) is a much longer jam, and worth every note.

||| Stream: “In My Place”

||| Previously: “My Man”