Rattus rattus, better known by its common name the black rat, is a shrewd and cunning rodent species that’s renowned for its ability to adapt, survive, and thrive in any environment. Wherever humanity has gone, the black rat has followed, across the seas, and to every corner of the globe.
Black Rat is also the second album by the hardest touring and hardest partying band in all of Australia, DZ Deathrays. Black Rat shares the cunning, tenacity, and gnawing longevity of its namesake. The album has tunnelled its way deep into legacy of Australian rock and the songs are still widely and wildly celebrated across the world, ten years after it first emerged from the crawlspace of a Fortitude Valley nightclub.
DZ Deathrays are currently composed of frontman and guitarist Shane Parsons, drummer Simon Ridley, lead guitarist Lachlan Ewbank, and bassist Luke Henery (formerly of Violent Soho). In the decade since the release of their sophomore album, DZ have quite literally doubled in size and toured across the world more times than the band members can probably count. They’re currently on their sixth studio album but many of the songs from Black Rat are still mainstays in their setlists and eternal fan favourites.
With an entire ten years of Black Rat to look back on, it’s well worth taking a deep dive into what’s made this album such an enduring force.
Black Rat is considered to be the album that solidified DZ’s reputation as a truly electrifying rock act, following the success of their debut album Bloodstreams. Recorded when the band was just a duo of Shane and Simon, the album definitely demonstrated how their songwriting had matured since their days of playing house parties in Brisbane backyards.
“This album was the first piece of work that we sat down, thought about and put together to be its own standalone piece of art. We learnt so much making this record and those lessons we have carried on throughout our career. It’s a record that has its own sound and I think its own personality. It’s fun and nasty and has moments of vulnerability, which makes it special!” – Shane Parsons
Simon echoed similar sentiments about the album:
“Black Rat was a huge turning point in the band’s career. We had just finished touring the first record for two or so years around the world and had gotten the attention of a few notable people so we really wanted to make sure it was the best we could do with what we had available to us. We wrote most of the songs on the stage in a bar called Alhambra Lounge in Brisbane that some friends would let us use during the week when it was empty, which really gave the songs a different vibe.
When it came to recording, we knew we wanted some electronic dance music influence on it and we both loved Gerling so we got Burke Reid to produce it. It was awesome, we all became fast friends and although the hours were long it went so quick. We learnt a lot from it all, and when the reception to the record was so positive it opened up so many incredible opportunities for us.” – Simon Ridley
With a writing and recording process like that, it’s no wonder that some of the lyrics reflect how the album was made:
“Got no inhibitions, got no plans to stop. Press rewind on my tape deck, for a chorus” – Night Slave
Having written separate guitar parts for the album that he couldn’t physically play on stage, Shane had to decide whether to expand the band beyond the two-piece set-up that they had at the time.
“I’ll be forever grateful to the Black Rat album, and for Shane and Simon choosing to have another guitarist instead of a backing track (shoutouts to their producer Burke Reid). I’m extremely lucky and fortunate to be able to play these songs live all around the world. The album is a bloody timeless classic!” – Lachlan Ewbank
Lachlan joined DZ as their touring guitarist initially and and immediately fit right in with the band’s hard partying lifestyle. Time sure flies because he’s now done four albums with them!
Luke Henery has been fortunate enough to go from one house to another in the graces in Australian rock royalty over the course of his career. Having toured with DZ Deathrays during his days in Violent Soho before joining DZ in 2023, he has a broader perspective on the past decade since the album’s release:
“Black Rat is an album that showed Australia that guitars matter in the landscape of Australian music. The songs are catchy and badarse at the same time. They are songs that can ring out on the radio up against all of the pop noise and show kids that they don’t have to be Taylor Swift.
Ten years ago, DZ were my peers in a Brisbane music scene that was carving out its own place. We were friends and label mates, watching them win ARIA’s and other awards showed us that we can take on the world.
Ten years on and I was asked to come on tour and play bass with a band that have become some of my best friends. It’s hard to express just how much these songs and the band now mean to me. Getting to play this album live in full is something that I will never forget and a memory I will cherish forever. This album is iconic and should be praised as such. Australia is lucky to have such talented songwriters and performers like DZ, I love them.” – Luke Henery
When the tenth anniversary of the album rolled around, it was clear that the fans were as hungry for it as the band were. The vinyl re-release sold out within three days, and put the album back in the ARIA Charts. The band followed this up by announcing a tenth anniversary tour that began on the east coast with Sydney, a sold-out double dose of mayhem in Brisbane, and then Melbourne. They then travelled a bit further afield with shows in Perth, Hobart, and Adelaide that went absolutely off and had people literally falling over the barrier to see them.
The whole tour was a salute to the past, acknowledging the journey of the band and their touchstone album, while also serving as a launchpad into new horizons. For me, having attended a couple of shows on the tour, a few moments stick out in particular.
First off, DZ’s oldest fan Seamus was welcomed on stage, wearing what was most probably the very first piece of DZ merch Simon and Shane had ever sold, to play the tambourine during the last song at the first show at The Triffid. Not a bad way to say thanks for well over a decade of loyalty to the band!
The night afterwards, it was Mitch Gregory, their original touring guitarist for Black Rat, who joined the band for their final song of the night, which was a reprise of crowd favourite Gina Works at Hearts. With five people on stage, DZ finally managed to use all the space available to them.
They played a few older numbers as part of their encores on the tour as well. My favourite was Gebbie Street, which is Simon’s sister’s favourite track as well mine. We’d been requesting this from him for years and never thought we’d see it. I wore a Black Rat mask to these shows as well, which got a real good response in Brisbane from the crowd, and scared some of the staff in Hobart at The Altar!
I’m pretty pumped to keep seeing DZ shows. It’s a family tradition for us now, between siblings, cousins, and now my son. But I can’t sit on show number thirteen forever. As soon as DZ announce the next round of shows, I’ll be on them like a rat up a drainpipe, and so should you!
While the first run of the tour might be over, the celebrations for ten years of Black Rat are far from finished. They’re doing a quick Queensland run before jetting off to tear up the UK and Europe. Some of them are already close to selling out, so if you can make any of these shows, make sure to snatch up a ticket to avoid disappointment!
A huge thanks to Tony Roberts for all of the photos in this article. Check out more of his work here.
Australian Dates:
- Fri – 11th of October – Dalrymple Hotel – Townsville QLD
- Sat – 12th October – Tanks Art Centre – Cairns QLD
- Sun – 13th October – Burleigh Town Hotel – Gold Coast QLD
UK and Europe Tour
- Fri – 18th of October – Future Yard – Birkenhead UK
- Sat – 19th of October – Sidney & Matilda/Jarred Up Festival – Sheffield UK
- Sun – 20th of October – The Exchange – Bristol UK
- Tue – 22th of October – Stereo – Glasglow UK
- Wed – 23th of October – YES – Manchester UK
- Thu – 24th of October – Key Club – Leeds UK
- Fri – 25th of October – Green Door Store – Brighton UK
- Sat – 26th of October – La Java- Paris France
- Tue – 29th of October – Rock Café – Prague Czechoslovakia
- Wed – 30th of October – Urban Spree – Berlin Germany
- Thu – 31th of October – Vera – Groningen Netherlands
- Fri – 1st of November – The Underworld – London UK
- Sat – 2nd of November – The Craufurd Arms- Milton Keynes UK
