(Cooking Vinyl)

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When sequencing the tracks for Headstunts, The Datsuns must have decided not to risk even one moment of apathy from the listener.  "Human Error" opens the album with a pick angrily scraping the guitar strings; a clarion call to the avalanche of fury that bursts out of every available throat and instrument for the next two minutes. Pinned to your chair, you realize the gauntlet has been thrown down, and for most of the next eleven tracks, the band is up to the challenge.  By adding some more glam, garage and pop to their hard rock, they've rearranged their sound a bit (much like the album title is an anagram of the band's name).

Let's face it, subtlety is not their forte, and there are whiffs of past greats to be found everywhere. "Ready Set Go" sounds like U2 playing a Clash song, or vice versa. "Eye of the Needle" starts out sounding like Pink Floyd and ends up as Alice Cooper circa Love it To Death; likewise "Highschool Hoodlums" echoes  Jet (complete with opening tambourine shake) playing Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" before settling into a more up-tempo stomping rocker.  Deep Purple organ meets garage/surf guitar on "Hey Paranoid People", while the guitar tone on "Your Bones" bleeds Jimmy Page. Apparently they picked up a few tricks from being part of Ozzfest and having John Paul Jones produce their second album.

What lifts this album up a notch from the sonic pool is their relentless energy. New drummer Ben Cole is a pounder, but the real treats are the occasionally amazing guitar licks from Christian Livingstone and Philip Somervell, especially on "Yeah Yeah Just another Mistake" and "So Long".  Vocals sometimes fight to rise above the noise, and lead singer Rudolf De Borst sounds uncannily like Perry Farrell, albeit fronting a much more hardcore Jane's Addiction ("Pity Pity Please", "So Long").

But adding the Hammond really fills out their sound; "Cruel Cruel Fate" is as radio-friendly as hard rock gets, and the lengthy jam of "Somebody Better" gives a taste of what the band must be able to pull off in a live setting.

Standout Tracks: "Cruel Cruel Fate," "Somebody Better," "Yeah Yeah Just Another Mistake" BILL HOLMES