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Rating: * * * *
The Datsuns have done exactly what they dreamed of doing when they first started a band in Cambridge in the late 90s. Play live, kick out the jams, and release records. Of course there have been a few speed bumps along the way.
In 2002 the Datsuns were the saviours of rock'n'roll thanks to a hellish live show and a self-titled debut album with unhinged and defiant anthems like MF From Hell on it. Then came the inevitable backlash. Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones produced second album Outta Sight, Outta Mind and not only did it fail to meet expectations, but more importantly the Datsuns' brand of yelping rock'n'roll was no longer in vogue.
Smoke & Mirrors from 2006 revealed a re-energised band and more adventurous songwriting but it was hardly memorable.
The band's fourth album, Headstunts, sees the Datsuns in better nick than ever. And we all know they can fire it up, with songs blazing away furiously, but it's on smouldering and trippy longer tracks like Eye Of the Needle, which breaks into a hollering and reckless groove halfway through, and album closer Somebody Better, where the Datsuns are at their most potent this time round.
Then again, on songs like Hey! Paranoid People!, with its kooky organ and surf guitar antics, the stomp and groove singalong of Your Bones, and the rough-and-ready sweetness of Cry Cry Baby, it's like taking a trip back to those heady days when blistering versions of MF From Hell blared out in pubs around the country.
While there's a little more refinement these days, a song like Highschool Hoodlums is the sound of a band going back to its roots and a time when they did whatever the hell they liked.
Get ready to sweat this summer people, because the songs off Headstunts will be even better live.
Scott Kara
FREE DOWNLOAD: Click here to download your free copy of The Datsuns' track Human Error.
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