DZ Deathrays

A pit-ready Australian dance-punk trio, DZ Deathrays emerged in the early 2010s with a sound that combines buzzsaw guitar riffs with fiery, party-ready rhythms. Since debuting in 2012 with the acclaimed Bloodstreams, the band has continually found itself atop the Aussie charts with Aria award-nominated efforts like Bloody Lovely (2019) and Positive Rising: Part 1 (2020).
Fittingly, the group — comprising singer/guitarist Shane Parsons and drummer Simon Ridley — formed in 2008 (under the abbreviated name DZ, to which they added Deathrays to avoid confusion with the U.S. dubstep DJ), intent on exclusively playing house parties. Word soon got out and they grew to the rock club circuit, releasing their debut EP, Ruined My Life, early the following year. By 2010, DZ Deathrays toured with the likes of Crystal Castles and Ratatat and performed at festivals like Big Day Out, Parklife, and Field Day, making way for their signing to the Melbourne label I Oh You a year later. The sophomore EP Brutal Tapes, which combined studio and house-party recordings alongside remixes, arrived soon after, and by fall the band was even more in demand, touring Europe with Male Bonding and Band of Skulls, joining the NME Radar Tour with Wolf Gang, and opening for Foo Fighters back in Australia.
By late 2011, DZ Deathrays began work on their full-length debut, Bloodstreams, with producer Richard Pike (PVT), who put some sheen on their Death from Above 1979-meets-Lightning Bolt sound. The album arrived the following spring to acclaim from NME and Q Magazine, while also earning awards for Best Independent Hard Rock Album at the 2012 Australian Independent Music Awards and Best Hard Rock/Metal Album at the ARIA Awards the same year. While touring in support of the album, the duo started writing what would become their sophomore release, and at the beginning of 2014 entered Grove Studios in Sydney with producer Burke Reid to record for two weeks. The sessions resulted in the band’s second album, Black Rat, which was released in mid-2014. In January 2018, DZ Deathrays dropped the single “Total Meltdown” in anticipation of the release of their third full-length effort, Bloody Lovely, which arrived later that February and peaked at number four on the ARIA Charts. The following year saw the group issue Positive Rising: Part 1, their fourth full-length effort. Positive Rising: Part 2 arrived a year later, and like its predecessor, took home an Australian Independent Record Award for Best Independent Punk Album. ~ Chrysta Cherrie