DZ Deathrays - Blood On My Leather

1.   Who are these champions?

DZ Deathrays are a dance punk duo from Brisbane, Australia. These hard charging heroes have been making magic together since 2008 and have two long players under their belts. Blood On My Leather (Feb'16) is a standalone single.

2. So what is the skinny on Blood On My Leather?

Stomping punk rap verses and full on headbanging in the chorus and with a thick wedge of humour. Blood On My Leather is a massive aural assault, firing all the big guns, a mad soundtrack to tanks rolling into the fray.

3. Who do DZ Deathrays sound like?

Blood On My Leather is a dead ringer for Beastie Boys, No Sleep Till Brooklyn or Fight For Your Right To Party vintage. Bangs harder though.

Generally the band envoke lazy comparisons with Death From Above 1979 because both bands are drum and guitar duos. So lets roll with the flow and throw in punk rockers Violent Soho because, they roll from the same town.

Recourse to the experts tells us, snap, Rolling Stone are good with the obvious, straight batting “a rambling snarl reminiscent of the Beastie Boys’ rock/rap hybridity.” Double snap, Clash Music add a Death From Above analogy.

4. What have the rags to say about DZ Deathrays?

Blood On My Jacket is “Chaotic and unruly” say Mushroom. “Loud, distorted, and downright tumultuous,” reckon The Line Of Best Fit. “A blitzkrieg,” big up Tone Deaf.

The last album Black Rat (2014) is “more earworms, less clutter, everything polished with blood and spit,” say Clash Music and “a siren call to headbanging piss heads everywhere,” according to NME.

5. Which bands get DZ Deathray’s blood pumping?

Motley Crue, short and simple say the men. Megadeth, The Bronx and The Offspring were added to the list. In an 2013 interview Arctic Monkeys, Future Of The Left, Hot Snakes, Mac Demarco and Gesaffelstein were also mentioned as floating their boat.

6. What makes Blood On My Leather stand out from the crowd?

Not as noisy as you might imagine. Massive, but loquacious drums, funny as fuck lyrics and and a relaxed big stomp with female back up vocals from Sweetie (from Sydney punk band Bloods) adding depth and variety.

7. What other goodies do DZ Deathray bring to the table?

The line is longer than the train at a Brisbane pool party. No Sleep continues in the riotious party tone. Gina Works At Hearts has a big riffy heart. Cops Capacity is simply slamming. Refective Skull brings the punk to the dance. Fuck it, these guys are killer. Get amongst. Get your snout in the trough.

8. Any more information to share about these legends?

DZ Deathrays added immensely to their mythology by having the plug pulled and being thrown off the SXSW stage in 2012 because of excessive volume. Fucking knob jockeys.

Both men were founding members, and still play in, the Brisbane 12 piece band garage pop band Velociraptor.

The band have been selected from a long list of applicants for fluffer duties for rock gods The Foo Fighters.

“See you at the bong for a massive blow out,

Can’t cut me loose, I’m stuck on the noose,

Never fall asleep at the wheel,

I I I I... got blood on my leather”

Stirring the porridge are Los Angeles punk heroes The Bronx. Wasted Youth romps off the album IV (2013). An album COS said is “unrelenting rock ‘n roll fraught with the bitterness of adulthood” and Loudwire said is “filled to the brim with homeruns.” Prepare yourself for the fine fucking goodness that are the modern punk legends The Bronx.

“Sometimes the best laid plans
Still end with blood on your hands”