DZ Deathrays
Black Rat
Release Date: Aug 18, 2014
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock
Record label: Infectious
Music Critic Score
How the Music Critic Score works
Album Review: Black Rat by DZ Deathrays
Very Good, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 4/5
On their 2012 debut ‘Bloodstreams’, DZ Deathrays put out a siren call to headbanging pissheads everywhere. Two years on, it looks like Shane Parsons and Simon Ridley might have grown up.‘Black Rat’ is just as fun, bright and sloppy, but this time the Brisbane duo are reflecting on sleep deprivation and broken relationships. Restlessness courses throughout, first appearing on ‘Northern Lights’ as Parsons sings “So tired, lay awake at night”, before ‘Nightwalking’ has him wandering the streets searching for “somewhere to be”.There’s respite from whatever is troubling DZ in the music itself, though.
Based on rating 4/5
Brisbane-duo DZ Deathrays have been battering Aussie house parties for the last half-decade with their vulgar breed of high voltage thrash-pop. From 2012’s ‘Bloodstreams’ to the mainstream, ‘Black Rat’ is essentially their debut album with sunglasses on – the party just hasn’t stopped. Throw in some shrill falsetto, a few ‘oh baby’s and more repeated refrains than a parakeet with OCD and what you’re left with is near 40 minutes of slow and sweaty seduction executed exquisitely by weeping guitar.
Based on rating 3.5
Australian duo Shane Parsons and Simon Ridley, otherwise known as DZ Deathrays, certainly made their mark when they released debut album, Bloodstreams, in 2012. The album, which was generally well-received by critics, combined pop hooks and gigantic choruses with thrashing guitars and scratchy vocals with almost perplexing ease. Their sound was volatile, unrestrained and – most importantly – didn’t take itself too seriously.
Based on rating 6/10
Brisbane guitar and drums duo DZ Deathrays garnered plenty of attention in their native Australia with their bratty 2012 debut, Bloodstreams. They became a vital member of a growing scene of likeminded acts fostered in no small part by taste-making label I Oh You. There was something tangible about the band's relentless work ethic and desire to reach larger audiences (they opened for Foo Fighters for a string of Australian dates in late 2011) that set them apart from other musicians more intent on raising hell at a house party.That's not to say that the band have lost any of their energy on their sophomore full-length Black Rat — they're just not sprinting to the finish line now.