More earworms, less clutter, everything polished with blood in the spit...
Brisbane-based duo *DZ Deathrays* – guitarist/vocalist Shane Parsons with drummer Simon Ridley – has been comfortably occupying that not-quite-*DFA1979* space since the release of 2012’s ‘Bloodstreams’ debut.
The good news, come the arrival of this second LP: ‘Black Rat’ doesn’t see them lose any ground on the returning Canadian pair. Indeed, it builds on their first album in all the right ways: more earworms, less clutter, everything polished with just a little blood in the spit.
At times it’s really rather adrenalising – ‘Gina Works At Hearts’ stings like an eye shot of bourbon, and ‘Reflective Skull’ (video below) dismantles Kasabian’s swaggery shtick and rebuilds a real monster. But the bad news needs breaking beside such positives: the pair still aren’t in that DFA1979 category of combatively brilliant, just yet.
*6/10*
Words: *Mike Diver*
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Get Clash on your mobile, for free: *iPhone* / *Android*
Listen to ‘Black Rat’ in full via Deezer, below… Reported by Clash 4 hours ago.
Brisbane-based duo *DZ Deathrays* – guitarist/vocalist Shane Parsons with drummer Simon Ridley – has been comfortably occupying that not-quite-*DFA1979* space since the release of 2012’s ‘Bloodstreams’ debut.
The good news, come the arrival of this second LP: ‘Black Rat’ doesn’t see them lose any ground on the returning Canadian pair. Indeed, it builds on their first album in all the right ways: more earworms, less clutter, everything polished with just a little blood in the spit.
At times it’s really rather adrenalising – ‘Gina Works At Hearts’ stings like an eye shot of bourbon, and ‘Reflective Skull’ (video below) dismantles Kasabian’s swaggery shtick and rebuilds a real monster. But the bad news needs breaking beside such positives: the pair still aren’t in that DFA1979 category of combatively brilliant, just yet.
*6/10*
Words: *Mike Diver*
- - -
- - -
*Buy Clash Magazine*
Get Clash on your mobile, for free: *iPhone* / *Android*
Listen to ‘Black Rat’ in full via Deezer, below… Reported by Clash 4 hours ago.