The Aussie indie rockers' third studio long-player,
Bloody Lovely sees
DZ Deathrays delivering a riffy, tube-driven, late-night sweatfest that invokes everyone from
Japandroids and
Band of Skulls to
the Vines and
Jane's Addiction. Garage rock revivalists who are unafraid to toss in the occasional classic rock trope or seismic, festival-ready chorus, Shane Parsons and Simon Ridley dial back some of the party-forward posturing of past releases. Despite the early appearance of a pair of punch-drunk bangers, the aptly named "Shred for Summer" and the largely one-note yet affable "Feeling Good, Feeling Great,"
Bloody Lovely feels born of tension. Whether or not the power duo is at war with or enamored by its more populist tendencies is never really resolved, but it's impossible to ignore the overall shift in tone -- the pit-ready, punk-addled defiance of the just-over-a-minute-long "Bad Influence" feels punitive rather than inclusive, and the hooky but hokey slow burner "Over It" cribs a bit too much from
the Von Bondies' "C'mon, C'mon." Still, even at their most caustic -- the knotty,
Pixies-ish "Guillotine" and the blues-hammered, serpentine closer, "Witchcraft, Pt. II" --
the Deathrays deliver the sonic equivalent of a fighter jet buzzing a control tower, and while they may not bring anything too new to the
White Stripes/
Black Keys power duo model, they've certainly proven that they belong in the same arena. ~ James Christopher Monger