In the Whale and Parade of Horribles
In the Whale sounds like so much more than just one guitar and one drummer. They blast huge, gritty garage rock, and the songwriting pounds out unselfconscious quotes of all the hooks from every cool hard rock song you’ve ever heard. In the Whale is a sonic boom that is night-sweaty, murky, and wild in a way that calls to mind early Black Sabbath. Maybe guitarist Nate Valdez’s day job dictates Whale’s lyric gloom. He’s an undertaker. Their first road bus was Valdez’ grandpa’s mortuary van. That’s where Valdez learned his craft, working in his family’s funeral home. The band is only seven years old. Valdez was a solo act while in a master’s degree program at the U of Northern Colorado. He found a drummer (Eric Riley) to fill in the gaps. They moved to Denver, made an album, and broke out of Rocky Mountain obscurity.
