Four tracks into DZ Deathrays’ Bloodstreams, and I think you could forgive the listener for writing it off as another, albeit fairly good, slab of shouty Pulled Apart By Horses-esque indie punk. However, the synths that throb into life on ‘Play Dead Until You’re Dead’ bring an extra burst of life to what is a hugely exciting debut.
As mentioned, the influence of the likes of Pulled Apart By Horses and The Bronx are evident here, but the band merge it impressively with chunks of The Rapture and Death From Above 1979. The thrashy dance of single ‘Dollar Chills’ works brilliantly alongside the Late Of The Pier infused ‘Debt Death’. Throw in some hugely catchy riffs, and here you have a band that knows how to make you dance, but also fight people (in a good way of course).
The production is also spot on. So often music along these lines can lose so much of the live energy when transferred to the studio, but here it’s so loud and distorted it refuses to let the energy dissipate. Even when the band slow it down ‘Dumb It Down’, it’s just a breather before the mental ‘LA Lighting’.
At only 37 minutes, and kept as raw as it is on the production side, Bloodstreams is great noisy fun. The bands ability to switch the focus for each track (between guitar, bass or synths) make the music flow allowing for an album that doesn’t get boring. It’s such a mess, yet it works so well. Fantastic stuff.
7.8
Sean Collison
