Artists With Less Than 10K Monthly Listeners: Valium

     It begs the questions – how many underrated artists are floating around with several thousand listeners when really they deserve a couple hundred thousand? Too many to count, probably. If local scenes just aren't what they were before, and online attention is dominated by established artists, where are the avenues for discovery? I used to discover new bands by asking mutuals online what new bands they were listening to, and they would ask me too. It's difficult to build organic community when all social media apps have practically been changed to reward trends and consuming as much as possible. Hence, every celebrity is an online influencer now. Every business has a TikTok. Every band has to do their own marketing online. Everyone and their nextdoor neighbor is trying to make you their fan before they even release a full album. Everything is so demanding online -- look at this, look at that, look at me. We as a society have moved away from being seriously interested in music.

 

        All this to say  -- organic community centered around fostering music scenes has largely dwindled. Algorithims seem to be getting worse and at worse at their jobs(think Spotify, YouTube, Whatever) and we're all actively seeking out new music less and less. As someone who makes an active effort to find alternative/rock artists with lesser followings, this will be the first of several other articles detailing artists with under a certain amount of monthly listeners.

 

        With less than a thousand monthly listeners, Valium is hands down the most criminally underrated band. Google barely even knows this band exists — results for Valium turned out bands from Colombia, Portugal, Singapore, Tasmania, and Aggelein. While they look interesting, respectfully, they weren’t the Valium I wanted to see. 

 

        Valium released their debut album in July of 2025. Jake Linder of the former band, Aberdeen is Dead, is the vocalist. In late 2023, the band abruptly posted a black post with text on their Instagram, @aberdeenisdead, stating “Aberdeen is Dead will unfortunately have to pull out of the Fort Worth show on 12/2 at Tulips. Refunds at point of purchase.” Aberdeen is Dead had earned a respectable name in the alternative scene, reaching far beyond their homebase of Dallas, Texas. They were known for their original sound that strongly brought back the vibes of 90's grunge as well as catchy melodic lyrics that really stick to the brain. Many fans were disappointed when no updates followed the bare Instagram post, and many, including myself, believed that Aberdeen would be dead forever. 

 

 

        Then I found a new post after returning to the Aberdeen is Dead instagram to beg for their return for the nth time. I was beyond ecstatic to see that Jake Linder was making music under a new band. His vocals and songwriting had been the draw of Aberdeen for me in the first place. Alongside announcing a new project, Jake Linder gave some insight into what happened to Aberdeen. See Instagram Pictures Below. 

        It isn't exactly the most detailed explanation, but I'll take it. Addiction is a very vulnerable thing to open up about, particularly online to the public. I'm glad to see that Linder has recovered, and is returning to his passion. Admittedly, a cynical part of me wonders if Matt Boling, bassist of Aberdeen, chose to pursue more lucrative acts, like his involvement in Violent Vira. I also understand that as a scorned fan, it's easy to assign blame from the outside. If there's more to the story, fans aren't necessarily entitled to know, and with the emergence of Valium, I'm satisfied to never find out. 

 

 

General Review of

Down The Rabbit Hole: The Rehab Recordings

 

 

        I was nervous to give Valium a listen at first, since new projects from beloved artists don’t always pan out the way we would expect. I couldn’t have been more misguided. I was thoroughly impressed by the production, given that Linder stated the recordings weren’t polished. And isn’t rawness the beauty in grunge anyway? Thank God for the rough sound, I consider it a happy accident. Valium is way more grunge than Aberdeen ever was, bordering on metal, and I mean that in the best way possible. It’s heavy, it’s raw, it’s energetic, it’s loud. The melodies and lyrics are just as intriguing and catchy as Aberdeen, if not more so. You can really feel the genuine emotion in Linder's lyrics and vocal delivery. 

 

       The album content explores the duality of active addiction; feeling defeated while desperately wanting a way out, but too stubborn, too deep in to make a change. The album doesn't glorify addiction, but it also doesn't downplay the temptation of it. If I were to take a literal approach to the first few songs of the album, I would say they represent the part of yourself that you don't recognize. It's the height of addiction, when you are the most detached from the consequences of it. The first two songs of the album are also the most different from Linder's past work, which further supports this interpretation. 

 

        However, the album also comes back down to reality. Addiction is all fun and games, until it isn't. The pinnacle of addiction is convincing yourself that you've got it all in control, but there always a part of you that knows better. Once the realization hits that you're not in control anymore, it's an uphill battle. You start to notice that the medicine isn't numbing the pain the way it used to. 

 

        I also find that the last few songs are the most like Aberdeen, particularly their last album titled Bliss. I could totally be reaching, but I wonder if it symbolizes Jake returning to his former self, before addiction. Of course, you can't ever erase that part of your journey, so it's like Aberdeen, but still very different. The songs have a deeper understanding of pain and growth, unfortunately, due to firsthand experience. 

 

          Valium is truly an evolution of Aberdeen. Aberdeen is Dead fans are sure to enjoy Valium. I am surprised to see that they don’t have more monthly listeners – perhaps it was the instagram algorithm declining to promote the post after such a long pause. Regardless, Valium is more than the continuation of Aberdeen. It is the declaration of determination from a talented artist that deserves to go far. 

 

 

Lyrics from Down the Rabbit Hole: The Rehab Recordings

 

 

"You would think she would know,

A motherfucker's gotta go.

I just threw up in the sink." 

Molotov

 

"Tell me you can see whatever I see,

whatever I see in the light.

Lies! Lies!"

Go Away

 

"Which of the victim cards 

Will you decide to play 

this round?" 

Pickup

 

"Shaking like I'm seizing 

Don't know what to do, 

Worst night of my life,

Tell me, where were you? 

Aching in my spine, 

I just can't fall asleep. 

Try to walk a foot, 

but I am just too weak." 

Seizure 

 

"Maybe I'll find a way to hide it now,

I'm a little caught up in my lies,

Maybe today's the day to just give in,

And admit I'm just stuck in demise." 

Find A Way 

 

"Lay down in, my arms

 Make me feel, no harm

You know the way down 

Make me bleed, and Push Me Out."

Push Me Out

 

"I plan on giving up with you, with you.

Sometimes I wonder what the hell to do, to do.

You can take all of the subtle things and I'll just keep the dreams.

Cause everything is not what it seems,

coming clean."

Giving Up With You