Black Rat (album)

Black Rat is the second studio album by Australian Dance-punk band DZ Deathrays. It was released by I Oh You Records in Australia and by Dine Alone Records in Canada on 2 May 2014. It was produced by former-Gerling frontman Burke Reid and recorded at the Grove Studios in Somersby from December 2013 to January 2014. It won at the ARIA Music Awards of 2014 for Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album.[1]

Black Rat
Studio album by
DZ Deathrays
Released2 May 2014
RecordedDecember 2013–January 2014
StudioThe Grove Studios, Somersby, NSW
GenreDance-punk, noise rock, garage rock revival
Length39:21
LabelI Oh You (AUS), Dine Alone (CAN)
ProducerBurke Reid
DZ Deathrays chronology
Bloodstreams
(2012)		 Black Rat
(2014)		 Bloody Lovely
(2018)
Singles from Black Rat
  1. "Northern Lights"
    Released: 13 November 2013
  2. "Gina Works At Hearts"
    Released: 13 March 2014
  3. "Reflective Skull"
    Released: 27 May 2014

Writing and recording

Most songs were written by both Shane Parsons and Simon Ridley. Writing began in early 2013 when the duo were together in the remote town of Yass, New South Wales. Once the two were happy with what they had, sometime after leaving Yass, they entered the Grove Studio with producer Burke Reid and over the course of six weeks they produced the album.[2]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic77/100[3]
Review scores
SourceRating
The AU Review6.9/10[4]
The Australian[5]
NME[6]

The album met with generally favourable reviews. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album has an average score of 77 based on 6 reviews.[3] 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 compared their debut album Bloodstreams as 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."[5] On 18 May, the album peaked at No. 23 on the ARIA Charts for one week.[7]

Track listing

Track listing adapted from AllMusic.[8]

All music is composed by DZ Deathrays (Shane Parsons, Simon Ridley), except where noted

No.TitleLength
1."Black Rat"3:30
2."Gina Works at Hearts"3:36
3."Less Out of Sync"3:07
4."Reflective Skull"3:31
5."Keep Myself on Edge"3:34
6."Northern Lights"4:12
7."Nightwalking"4:07
8."Fixations"2:53
9."Ocean Exploder"4:03
10."Tonight Alright"2:52
11."Night Slave"3:56
Total length:39:21

Personnel

DZ Deathrays
  • Shane Parsons – lead vocals, guitars
  • Simon Ridley – drums, percussion

Production
  • Burke Reid – producer
  • Simon Ridley – programming

Charts
Chart (2018) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[7] 23

References
  1. "ARIA Awards (2014)". ariaawards. Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  2. iohyou (24 February 2014). "DZ DEATHRAYS ANNOUNCE SOPHOMORE RECORD 'BLACK RAT'". Archived from the original on 19 November 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  3. "Black Rat by DZ Deathrays". Metacritic. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  4. Ball, Jack (1 May 2014). "Album Review: DZ Deathrays - Black Rat (2014 LP)". The AU Review. Archived from the original on 15 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  5. 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.
  6. Daly, Rhian (15 August 2014). "DZ Deathrays - 'Black Rat'". NME. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  7. "Australian-charts.com - DZ Deathrays - Black Rat". ARIA Charts Top 50 Albums. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  8. "Black Rat - DZ Deathrays". Retrieved 15 January 2019.
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