DZ Deathrays

DZ Deathrays (previously Denzel[1] then DZ[2]) are an Australian dance-punk trio from Brisbane, Queensland.[3] Composed of Shane Parsons (vocals/guitar), Lachlan Ewbank (lead guitar/vocals) and Simon Ridley (drums),[4] they put out two EPs before releasing their debut album, Bloodstreams, in April 2012.[5] The album went on to win the Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album award at the 2012 ARIA Awards.[6] To date they have released four studio albums: Bloodstreams (2012), Black Rat (2014), Bloody Lovely (2018) and Positive Rising: Part 1 (2019).

DZ Deathrays
DZ Deathrays performing in Berlin in 2011
Background information
Also known asDZ
OriginBrisbane, Queensland, Australia
GenresDance-punk, noise rock, post-punk revival, indie rock
Years active2008 (2008)–present
Labels
  • Useless Art
  • Illusive Sounds
  • I Oh You
  • Infectious
  • Dine Alone
Associated acts
Websitehttp://dzdeathrays.com
MembersShane Parsons
Simon Ridley
Lachlan Ewbank

History
DZ Deathrays performing in 2014.

Early years (2008–2011)

Parsons and Ridley (both from Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia) were initially the founding members of Brisbane band Velociraptor, and continue to play with the group.[7] Following the formation of DZ Deathrays, the band's first performances occurred at Brisbane house parties.[8] The debut recording for the band was an EP, titled Ruined My Life, that was released in 2009 and its entire content was recorded live at a house party.[9] The band's sophomore EP, Brutal Tapes, was released in January 2011 on their Bandcamp.[10] A Re-issue containing more songs was released by label I Oh You, in 2014.[11]

Bloodstreams (2012–2013)

DZ Deathrays released their debut album, Bloodstreams, in mid-2012 and received praise from Pitchfork Media, with reviewer Laura Snapes writing that the album is "more than worth going deaf to."[12] The album was co-produced by electro artist Richard Pike and was recorded in Queensland during a two-week period. It was released in the UK in May 2012 on the Hassle label and NME reviewer Kelly Murray explained: "This album has the potential to make your little sister want to shave her head and invest in mock leather hotpants. It’s the penned seduction of a weekend of irresponsibility and a Monday full of inferior excuses."[9][13][14]

Black Rat (2014–2016)
Main article: Black Rat (album)

The band's second album was recorded with producer Burke Reid at the Grove Studios complex, located adjacent to the Strickland Forest, north of Sydney, Australia,[15] in January 2014.[16][17] The band recorded with Reid for a two-week period—a 9 January Facebook post from the band read: "Producer Burke Reid tinkering away at about 3am. Sounding brutal."[18] The band's press release for the album states that the recording is "a rich, deep collection of sounds, textures and arrangements".[19] In the promotional material that accompanied review copies of the album, Parsons described the album as "definitely a night-time record. After 9pm; that's where it finds its place."[20]

In early April 2014, the band signed with the Infectious Records music company for the release of Black Rat in the United Kingdom (UK). The band toured the UK during April 2014, appearing at the Liverpool Sound City event, prior to the UK release of the album in August 2014.[21] The duo released their second studio album Black Rat in both Australia and the United States (US) in May 2014.[19]

In early May 2014, writing for the Australian newspaper, music journalist Andrew McMillen awarded Black Rat 3.5 stars out of a possible 5. McMillen describes Bloodstreams as comparatively juvenile alongside Black Rat, and writes that the more mature sound better suits the duo, as they move beyond their "trash party" origins. McMillen further praises the album's 11 songs as a "significant step forward" and concludes: "... it's [Black Rat] the sound of a confident band torn between its populist, party-friendly beginnings and a new-found ability to embrace glimpses of beauty amid the sonic destruction."[20] On 18 May, the album peaked at No. 23 on the ARIA Charts for one week.[22]

Bloody Lovely (2017–2018)
Main article: Bloody Lovely (album)

The duo released the single "Shred for Summer" in August 2017, it placed within Australian radio station Triple J's Hottest 100, 2017 at no. 67.[23] Their next single "Bad Influence" was released in September, with another, "Total Meltdown" following in November. "Total Meltdown" just missed out placing no. 109 within the Hottest 200 of 2017.[24] The three singles would later be included in their third studio album.

Their third studio album, Bloody Lovely, was released on I Oh You Records and Alcopop! Records on 2 February 2018. Triple J picked it as their feature album of the week.[25] Three days after the album was released the single "Like People" included in the album was released. The music video for the single featured one of the original members of The Wiggles, Murray Cook.[26] On 18 February, the album peaked at No. 4 on the ARIA Charts and remained there for a total of two weeks.[27] Then-touring guitarist Lachlan Ewbank helped in writing the album and was considered a fully-fledged member of the band.[28] He was later officially inducted as a full-time member of the band.[29]

On 14 September the band joined with The Gooch Palms for Like a Version on Triple J where they played their original, "Like People", and their cover of "Love Shack" by the B52s.[30]

Positive Rising: Part 1 (2019)

On 10 January 2019, via DZ Deathrays' Twitter, the trio stated that they were about to commence recording their fourth studio album.[31] On 14 January, it was announced that DZ Deathrays would perform a national tour titled "Tour With the Lot". The tour is set to run from March to April with support from Moaning Lisa and The Buoys.[32] On 4 February, they confirmed that their fourth studio album was completed, further details are yet to be announced.[33]

On 1 March, coinciding with the beginning of their Tour With the Lot, DZ Deathrays released a new single entitled "Front Row Hustle". A reworking of their track "Afterglow" from their 2018 album, Bloody Lovely, remixed by Trials of A.B. Original. It features Briggs, also of A.B. Original, and rising star Jesswar.[34] An accompanying music video preceded the single's release.[35] On 14 June, their fourth studio album Positive Rising: Part 1 was confirmed for a release of 30 August.[36] On the same day, the trio released a new single "IN-TO-IT" alongside an accompanying music video.[37]

Positive Rising: Part 2 (2020–present)

In October 2020, the band released "Fired Up" the lead single from Positive Rising: Part 2, set for release in July 2021.[38]

Touring

DZ Deathrays have toured throughout over 15 countries, including Australia, the UK, the US and Canada.[39] In the promotional material for the band's second album, Parsons explained that the band had spent the preceding two years drinking and touring, a period in which the songs for Black Rat were created.[20]

To promote Bloodstreams, the DZ Deathrays performed at festivals such as the Reading and Leeds Festivals (UK), the A Perfect Day Festival (Villafranca di Verona, Italy[40]), Splendour in the Grass (Australia) and St Jerome's Laneway Festival (Australia), and headlined the NME stage at The Great Escape Festival, held in Brighton and Hove, UK.[41] The band's performance at the US South by Southwest (SXSW) event in Austin, Texas[42] was shortened, due to the extreme volume of their music. Musical touring partners include Blood Red Shoes, TRUST, Foo Fighters and Unknown Mortal Orchestra.[43]

Awards and nominations

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
AIR Awards of 2012[44][45] Bloodstreams Best Independent Album Nominated
Best Independent Hard Rock or Punk Album Won
AIR Awards of 2014[46] Black Rat Best Independent Hard Rock or Punk Album Nominated
AIR Awards of 2019[47] Bloody Lovely Best Independent Hard Rock, Heavy or Punk Album Won
AIR Awards of 2020[48][49] Positive Rising: Part 1 Best Independent Punk Album or EP Won

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music.

Year Nominee / work Award Result Lost to
2012[6] Bloodstreams Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album Won N/A
2014[43] Black Rat Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album Won N/A
Best Cover Art Nominated Chet Faker - Built On Glass
2018 Bloody Lovely Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album Nominated Parkway Drive - Reverence
2019[50] Positive Rising: Part 1 Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album Nominated Northlane - Alien

J Awards

The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. They commenced in 2005.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
J Awards of 2018[51] "Like People" Australian Video of the Year Nominated

National Live Music Awards

The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
National Live Music Awards of 2016[52] themselves Live Hard Rock Act of the Year Nominated
Simon Ridley (DZ Deathrays) Live Drummer of the Year Won
National Live Music Awards of 2019[53][54] themselves Live Hard Rock Act of the Year Nominated

Influences

In April 2014, Ridley identified seven albums that "changed his life" for the Australian "Tone Deaf" music website. Included in the list are Smash by The Offspring, which was not only the first album that Ridley owned, but "also the first album with swearing on it"; The Bronx's first self-titled album, "a psych up album for nights when I'm too tired but need to party"; Air's Moon Safari, which is an album that was listened to after Ridley would "come home from work every day" and "melt into the couch"—he stated that he now listens to the album on a weekly basis; and Rust in Peace by Megadeth, praised by Ridley for being "Metal how it should be!"[55]

Members
  • Shane Parsons – lead vocals, guitar (2008–present)
  • Simon Ridley – drums, percussion, backing vocals (2008–present)
  • Lachlan Ewbank – lead guitar, backing vocals (2018–present; touring member 2015–present)

Former touring members

  • Mitchell 'Mood' Gregory – guitar (2014–2015)

Discography

Studio albums
List of studio albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart positions
AUS
[22][27]
Bloodstreams
  • Released: 6 April 2012
  • Label: Illusive Sounds
 —
Black Rat
  • Released: 2 May 2014
  • Label: I Oh You
 23
Bloody Lovely
  • Released: 2 February 2018
  • Label: I Oh You // Alcopop! Records (UK/EU)
 4
Positive Rising: Part 1
  • Released: 30 August 2019
  • Label: I Oh You // Dine Alone (North America) // Alcopop!
 21
[56]
Positive Rising: Part 2
  • To be released: 9 July 2021
  • Label: I Oh You // Dine Alone // Alcopop!
 TBA

Extended plays
List of extended plays
Title Details
Ruined My Life
  • Released: 10 September 2009[57]
  • Label: Useless Art
Brutal Tapes
  • Released: 4 January 2011 (original)
    14 May 2014 (re-issue)
  • Label: Self-released (original)
    I Oh You (re-issue)
No Sleep
  • Released: 6 March 2012[39]
  • Label: I Oh You, Dine Alone

Singles
Title Year Album
"Gebbie Street" 2011 Bloodstreams
"Dollar Chills" 2012
"Gina Works at Hearts" 2014 Black Rat
"Northern Lights"
"Reflective Skull"
"Blood on My Leather" 2016 Non-album singles
"Pollyana"
"Shred for Summer" 2017 Bloody Lovely
"Bad Influence"
"Total Meltdown"
"Like People" 2018
"Front Row Hustle"
(with Briggs, Jesswar and Trials)		 2019 Non-album single
"IN-TO-IT" Positive Rising: Part 1
"Year of the Dog"
(with Matt Caughthran)
"Still No Change"
"Run to Paradise"[58] 2020 Non-album single
"Fired Up"[59] Positive Rising: Part 2
"FU"[60] Non-album single
"All or Nothing"[61] 2021 Positive Rising: Part 2

Music videos
Year Song Director
2008 "The Mess Up" Noel Smyth
2010 "Teeth" (as DZ)
2012 "No Sleep" Vonne Patiag
"Dollar Chills" Tristan Houghton
"Cops Capacity"
2013 "Northern Lights" Alex Grigg
2014 "Less Out of Sync" Katie Ridley
"Reflective Skull" Tristan Houghton
"Gina Works at Hearts" Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux
Chandler Levack
2016 "Blood on My Leather" Prad Sen
2017 "Shred for Summer" SPOD
2018 "Like People" Guss Mallmann
"Guillotine" Bill Bleakley
Lucy Knox
"Feeling Good, Feeling Great" Timothy O'Keefe
Vaughn Hunt
2019 "Front Row Hustle" Bill Bleakley
Lucy Knox
"IN-TO-IT" SPOD
Alexander Orlando Smith
"Still No Change"

See also

References
  1. "Denzel - Triple J Unearthed". Triple J Unearthed.
  2. Cahill, Mikey (7 April 2011), "Rock City", Herald-Sun
  3. Chrysta Cherrie. "DZ Deathrays | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  4. Shepherd, Fiona (17 May 2012), "Review : DZ Deathrays", The Scotsman
  5. Seidler, Jonno (7 April 2012), "Deathrays take aim at a hit with debut album", The Gold Coast Bulletin
  6. "Aria for Bundy originated band DZ Deathrays", News Mail, 30 November 2012
  7. Mengel, Noel (6 September 2012), "It dozen get any better than this", The Courier-Mail
  8. Mengel, Noel (11 August 2012), "Clash of the albums", The Courier-Mail
  9. Kelly Murray (8 May 2012). "DZ Deathrays - 'Bloodstreams'". NME. IPC Media Entertainment Network. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  10. "Brutal Tapes - DZ DEATHRAYS". Bandcamp. 4 January 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  11. "Brutal Tapes by DZ Deathrays on Apple Music". iTunes. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  12. Snapes, Laura (20 June 2012). "DZ Deathrays". Pitchfork. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  13. Howe, Dave Ruby (11 August 2012), "Thrash", The Canberra Times
  14. Seidler, Jonno (1 June 2012), "Bloodstreams", The Sydney Morning Herald
  15. "The Property". The Grove Studios. 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  16. "2 January". DZ Deathrays on Facebook. Facebook. 8 January 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014. Our home for the next 2 weeks. #album2
  17. Scott Armstrong (24 February 2014). "DZ DEATHRAYS ANNOUNCE SOPHOMORE RECORD 'BLACK RAT'". I Oh You. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  18. "9 January". DZ Deathrays on Facebook. Facebook. 9 January 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
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  20. Andrew McMillen [@Andrew_McMillen] (3 May 2014). "'Black Rat', the second album by Brisbane rock duo @DZDEATHRAYS, reviewed in The @Australian today" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  21. Jamie Milton (16 April 2014). "DZ Deathrays Sign To Infectious For New 'Black Rat' Album". DIY. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
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  29. Doria, Matt (4 July 2018). "DZ DEATHRAYS // Announce Massive 10-Year Anniversary Tour Ft. PUP". Hysteria Mag. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
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  32. Williams, Tom (14 January 2019). "DZ Deathrays Announce Huge National Tour For 2019". Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  33. "DZ DEATHRAYS on Twitter: "Our 4th album is done"". Twitter. 4 February 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  34. Jenke, Tyler (1 March 2019). "DZ Deathrays drop collaborative new single 'Front Row Hustle'". Tone Deaf. The Brag. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  35. IOHYOUMUSIC (27 February 2019). "DZ Deathrays, Briggs, Jesswar & Trials - Front Row Hustle". Retrieved 3 March 2019 – via YouTube.
  36. "DZ Deathrays - New album 'Positive Rising : Part 1'..." Facebook. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  37. DZ Deathrays (14 June 2019). "DZ Deathrays - IN-TO-IT (Official Video)". Retrieved 1 July 2019 – via YouTube.
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  41. Petridis, Alexis (15 May 2011). "The Great Escape festival – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 May 2013. The Great Escape's USP is new music. So for the real spirit of things, you are best off haunting the smaller venues.
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  53. "HERE ARE YOUR 2019 NATIONAL LIVE MUSIC AWARDS NOMINEES!". NLMA. 22 October 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  54. "AND THE WINNERS OF THE 2019 NATIONAL LIVE MUSIC AWARDS ARE…". NLMA. 5 December 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
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  57. "Ruined My Life by DZ Deathrays on Apple Music". iTunes. 10 September 2009. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
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  61. "DZ Deathrays Share Explosive New Single, 'All or Nothing'". Rolling Stone Australia. 20 January 2021. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
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