Feminism has a fierce new sound with the powerful Deap Vally. Gill Sutherland gets some pearls of wisdom from the pair

‘It’s going to be tricky getting hold of the girls,” warns girl duo Deap Vally’s press officer when I try to track down the hot rock chicks for an interview ahead of their Oxford appearance. “They’re in the Caribbean on a cruise ship with Lynryd Skynyrd.” As excuses go, it’s probably the most rock’n’roll I’ve ever heard. That Deap Vally are rocking out with legends of Southern hard rock, Lynryd Skynryd, somewhere exotic is entirely appropriate.

Rock, especially the blues-soaked, big riff wig-out, snarly, guttural variety, is seen as a man’s game. Occasionally a woman like Joan Jett will come along and put another dime in the jukebox or the likes of Courtney Love will upset the world with her outlandish shenanigans, but, really, rocking girls tend to be a minor blip in rock’s firmament.

But now Deap Vally have come along threatening to turn that blip into an enormo blot. The duo are singer-guitarist Lindsey Troy and drummer Julie Edwards. They are both so-called ‘valley’ girls (thus the quirkily spelt band name) which means they come from the middle-class suburbs outside Los Angeles and, typically Californian, are both gorgeous: all long hair and super leggy. Together the girls make a hell of a rock racket (think Led Zeppelin meets Jack White) while wearing impossibly small Daisy Duke shorts, dark glasses and a cocky attitude.

“There’s a tendency with women in rock to sometimes downplay their femininity, but we feel like we can be womanly, proud of our sexiness and sexuality, and provocative – and still rock as hard as a man,” explains singer Troy of their seeming contradiction. And it’s not just their sexy outfits that establish their womanly identity. Their recently released debut album Sistrionix is a feminist call to arms of sorts. The title cleverly subverts the notion of ‘hystrionics’ – the term Victorians used to dismiss excitable woman as ‘insane’ – by fusing it with ‘sister’. And the songs’ lyrics are all about these sisters of rock doing it for themselves: on single Gonna Make My Own Money Troy hollers about not relying on men and how she’s “gonna buy my own land”.

As Troy says, “It’s like a self-affirmation. “Julie and I are both independent women and, for me personally, I feel like that’s just something I’ve wanted – to have my own career and my own money and just always be able to support myself.”

Judging by their recent successes – they’re appearing at Oxford as part of a world tour promoting their album and have supported the likes of Muse and The Vaccines – fending for themselves won’t be a problem for Deap Vally.

But just when you think that you know what makes these feminist rockers tick, they surprise you some more. Like the story of how they met: “I wanted to learn how to crochet, so turned up for a class which Julie was teaching,” recalls Troy. “We spent three or four hours together during the lesson and we just really hit it off and bonded over our musical pasts, love of music, and everything. “I thought she was awesome!” continues Troy. “After a few weeks Julie said ‘we should start a band’. It was the moment I was waiting for – I just knew it was on.”

Knitters that rock, what would Kirstie Allsopp say?

“Music and knitting actually have a lot in common,” reckons Troy. “They’re both very tactile activities and involve a lot of dexterity and have a lot of hypnotic, gratifying rewards.”

Now there’s a refreshing homespun rock philosophy. Go, girls!

  • Deap Vally O2 Academy Wednesday, Oxtober 30, 7pm Visit ticketmaster.co.uk