VICE Exclusive: Check Out Vallens' 'Twin Peaks'–Inspired Shoegaze

Twin Peaks and Genesis P-Orridge's Psychic TV project are two of the top, like, 117 or so Cool Things that you have to have at least a smile-and-nod level of familiarity with in order to hold your own conversationally at any of your finer composting parties and ayahuasca ceremonies. So when I got an email telling me about this band, Vallens, who are influenced by Twin Peaks and recorded their album with a former member of Psychic TV, I was blown away—how has something so obviously hip slipped through the cracks? But name-checking aside, Vallens is actually good. The music is shoegazey, complex, and textured—don't listen to it because it's cool, listen to it because it's a good song. Then buy their new album on Hand Drawn Dracula, a label that continues to be both stylish and full of substance.