DZ Deathrays - McHugh's, Belfast
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DZ Deathrays, The Alice Kona Band
McHugh鈥檚, Belfast
24th May 2012
As we鈥檙e currently in the middle of a heatwave, it is only sensible to seek shelter from the sun. That we鈥檙e lurking in a basement bar and its night-time is irrelevant 鈥 its shelter and mine鈥檚 a pint while you鈥檙e asking.
Our headliners this evening will, of course, be well used to warm weather (clich茅 alert) as they鈥檙e Aussies. Indeed, they鈥檙e enamoured by their surroundings, revelling in playing in a venue that they admit is 鈥渓ike 100 years older than our country.鈥
I doubt that are as old as either the bar or Australia, but they鈥檙e imbued with the vitality of their relative youth. They鈥檙e from the guitar pop tradition, and confirm their local-ness by complaining about the heat in-between punk-poppy songs 鈥 punk-pop in the sense that they鈥檙e punky but catchy, like The Clash, Stiff Little Fingers or Richard Hell.
'Breakdown' in particular recalls the aforementioned punk godfathers, while their 鈥渟ong about sharks鈥 shimmers with it鈥檚 pop credentials in the same manner as The Replacements 鈥 slightly messy and not quite perfect but all the better for it, a vibe continued with 鈥楤ad Dreams鈥, their next single. It鈥檚 lads with guitars, not doing lad-rock, but doing something not overly nasty or pretentious, but just good music. It worked for plenty before and it might work for these guys.
As has been said, have travelled a long way to get here, from Brisbane in fact. The question is did they bring some good music as well as good weather? As a two-piece there is an obvious White Stripes comparison and, like them, they do nasty blues rock and roll but even dirtier and rawer. It's nearer The Stooges if we鈥檙e searching for a Detroit antecedent. It鈥檚 primal, pounding and battering.
鈥楾he Man That I Am鈥 is pounding, methodical and military in its relentlessness, with riff after riff. Arguably they鈥檙e limited by the two-piece set-up, but the sleaze is so infectious that it鈥檚 impossible not to be drawn into it until the realisation that they鈥檝e made a virtue of the repetition and constraints. By incorporating loops and effects and stripping down the vocals to barked lines, the blues-rock mutates into something more suitable for the dance-floor. It鈥檚 not subtle but the big heavy 4/4 beats and big hooky riffs and repeated slaps round the face vocals are the sort of thing that 2ManyDJs/Soulwax would use and abuse in the same way that they helped cross-over The Gossip鈥檚 鈥楽tanding In The Way Of Control.鈥 We鈥檙e still not sure what a DZ Deathray is exactly, but we like it.
William Johnston
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