Forming a year ago Valens is a three-piece outfit consisting of Jeff Perales (vocals/guitar), Victor Mills (bass/vocals) and Raul Benavides (drums) out of Houston, Texas who write pop songs that fans of The Promise Ring and Hey Mercedes will be attracted to. They recently released an album called Songs about Sleep. The songs are short and to the point. Each song starts fast and doesn’t slow down much until it’s over. What's nice about this formula is that they are like little shots of adrenaline that give you a little burst of energy. The production is better than average but sometimes lacks the punch of a professional-sounding album. I often find that production plays a big factor with three-piece power pop acts and it’s a bit harder to get away with an even slight lo-fi type of sound. I love a song that starts with feedback as it is usually a strong indicator it is about to rock out. No exception with “Coffee Talk” which is the first song on the album as well as one of the highlights. The song seems destined to attract a flock of teenage girls as it has a standard emo vibe that younger generations seem to notice. It’s on this song that even if you aren't a fan of the music you can appreciate the ability to sound like a concise unit who individually have a lot of talent when it comes to their respective instruments (especially the drummer who shined on a lot of the songs). “Most Nights” has some of the best guitars riffs on the album. The guitar player hits his chords abrasively as well as knows when to simmer things down and let the bass player do his thing. Perhaps Songs about Sleep biggest strength as well as its weakness is that a lot of the songs feel interchangeable. If you like one song on this album there is very little chance you will not dig the rest of the album. However if you don't like the first song, there won't be any songs that will change your mind.
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