The Datsuns are clever enough to know that rock'n'roll isn't about being clever - they're just here to rock.

Why the usually style-obsessed music press chose to champion this band of sweat-and-denim-clad 1970s rock revivalists from New Zealand, who sound as if they paid their dues blasting out AC/DC songs in redneck bars, may be one of the great mysteries of our time.

What isn't in doubt is The Datsuns' ability to deliver.

At the Carling Weekend: Leeds Festival last year, going on stage before The Darkness, they turned in a powerhouse set that won a fair few converts, and Outta Sight/Outta Mind sees them still plugged into the same current.

Unlike The Darkness, whose rock revivalism relishes the preposterous pantomime of 1980s spandex-pants-and-hairspray metal, The Datsuns take a punk attitude to Seventies rock, stripping it to the bedrock basics of monster riffs and driving rhythms - with the help of ex-Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones as producer.

Their youthful energy and irreverence save them from being mere retro pub rock tribute, although the driving wall of sound also makes you think of punk godfathers The Stooges and strutting Swedes The Hives.

It is, however, an album of good riffs rather than great songs - largely down to singer Dolf's vocals being buried in the racket, and they are without a doubt a band who will always be more impressive live than on record.

But anyone who enjoyed The Datsuns' first album will find plenty here to shake their mullet haircut to.

Updated: 08:44 Thursday, June 03, 2004