As the four young Datsuns themselves would be the first to admit, they don't have particularly long attention spans. And to judge from this raucous debut album, these hirsute New Zealanders don't believe their fans do either. Recorded on a tiny budget in a mere two weeks, it's a ridiculously frantic affair that speeds from one tight, loud, thrash-metal frenzy to another, with barely a pause for breath in between. Thanks to their spiritual mentors The Hives and The White Stripes, this kind of back-to-basics rock is emphatically back in fashion again, and The Datsuns may well be able to hitch a ride on the back of this speeding bandwagon. To prosper in the long run, however, they'll need to acquire just a little more depth. As you might guess from song titles such as Motherf***er From Hell, frontman Dolf de Datsun's lyrics are just a little on the shallow side, and their overall appeal starts to wear rather thin over the course of an entire album. As a slice of raw, headbanging energy, The Datsuns is undeniably good fun - but they'd do well to remember that sheer dumb enthusiasm will only take them so far.
