San Francisco is frequently blanketed by thick fog, but this time the fog is packed with distorted dance riffs, slippery bass, and infectious backbeats. Death Valley High, the San Fran contingent fronted by scene-vet Reyka Osburn, makes gloom sound good. Osburn cut his teeth in the Bay Area bands Tinfed and Ghostride, but with his newest endeavor, he has found his niche and blown it wide open.

Death Valley High’s roots go back to 2004. While his electro-pop band Tinfed imploded, Osburn began collecting songs. “I wanted it to be more rock ‘n’ roll,” Osburn explains. “More in your face. More raw. I had no idea it would take so long to create this new voice.” DVH’s self-released debut The Similarities of the Loveless and the Undead finally dropped in 2007.

Loveless was an accomplishment for Osburn, but his concocted band of scenester friends had “no real focus on where it was gonna go.” After a line-up revamp, the quartet of Osburn [vocals, guitar], Adam Bannister [drums], Chris Sanders [guitar], and Huffy Hafera [bass] began work on the sophomore effort, Doom, In Full Bloom.

The subsequent songs are a mix of goth, hardcore punk, noise, electronica and pop. This cornucopia sounds cacophonous and unhinged, but the foursome keep it controlled and catchy from the sprawling soundscape of lead single “Multiply,” to the brash dissonance of “Meet Me for a Ouija” and the desperate wails of “Days and Days,” the latter of which Osburn confesses “is one of my favorite songs I ever wrote.”

Originally self-released on vinyl in 2010, Doom, In Full Bloom was rereleased by Minus Head Records this past April and is now available on CD for the first time. “Originally we wanted to keep it that punk rock route,” Osburn says of the original vinyl release, “but we’ve seen a lot of feedback just coming in now from people who were holding off to buy the CD. It’s great.”

Brad Hardie, the head of Minus Head, caught DVH live and was instantly intrigued. “DVH is the whole package,” Hardie attests. “Great songs, a unique sound and backed by a killer live set. Half the time I don’t know if I should be shaking my ass or head-banging.”

Either motion works for many of DVH’s tunes. The songs’ multiple personalities are abundant, but never feel out of place. Shifts of tempo, time and even genre happen within moments of each other, but each tune flows fluidly, allowing listeners to immerse themselves into opiate induced comas immediately followed by sudden frenetic fits.

Death Valley High is promoting Doom, In Full Bloom throughout the year. Keep an eye out for the “Mulitply” video and the follow up single “Thru Hell.” Even though there’s the rerelease to push, Osburn is looking towards the next DVH release, “We’re putting together and assembling new songs, which we’re really excited about.” With an increasing catalog of blood-boiling dance jams, Death Valley High is solidifying itself as one head-banging, ass-shaking alma mater.

www.deathvalleyhigh.com