With both hair follicles and riffs cranked up to the nines, these four pesky New Zealanders are presently shaking things up in the UK, and if the US release of their debut album, The Datsuns is anything to go by, then their hellfire brand of super-charged rock is going to doodle those damn Yankees quite squarely too.
Alice Cooper riffs and a stoned out blues approach to simplicity make The Datsuns perhaps the coolest kick-ass exponents of plug-in-and-play rock n’ roll. Hardly groundbreaking tactics, I know, but this is seriously pure cut stuff.
First coming together in 1995 as the less than cleverly titled, ‘Trinket’, The Datsuns have been pitching their arrogant, leg splayed vitriol at underground audiences for a number of years now. But with mates like The White Stripes, and the Von Bondies it was pretty much inevitable that the band hook up with the mighty V2 and get to work on their 2 years in the making debut. Recorded at the legendary UK RAK and KONK studios, and produced by Liam Watson (Flaming Stars) and Richard Woodcraft (Boo Radleys, Echo and The Bunnymen) the album is a marvellously consistent fista of fun: less punky than the Ramones, less prog than Zeppelin but every bit as noisy.
Although the glam excesses and honey-dusted harmonies may seem the only oddball component on the record, it’s by and large its most compulsive and triumphant feature. Guitar riffs twinned up and thrust forward its also one of the few rock records around where the riffs are genuinely encouraged to drive, screaming out of the mix as lead voices rather than as lame ass extras thrown in between verses: to be fair, pure blues. The Queens of The Stone Age hinted at it with ‘Songs For The Deaf’ but ‘The Datsuns’ takes it one step further and actually midwifes the rebirth of rock, and songs like ‘Harmonic Generator’ and ‘MF From Hell’ evenly provide the most suitable soundtrack. They’re sexy, they’re electric and they’re headfucked on amphetamines.
Foo Fighters – take ye notice., Aerosmith – you may retire.