The Datsuns

New Zealand rockers the Datsuns fearlessly hitch the sound of Antipodean forebears AC/DC, the Saints, and the Scientists onto the stripped-back blues howl of the White Stripes. In their gloriously simple world, riffs are basic, guitar solos heroic, and lyrical concerns don't stretch much beyond bad women who've done these volume-addled longhairs wrong. A song like "MF from Hell" demonstrates where the Datsuns are coming from: guitars chug while singer Dolf De Datsun yelps and delivers a big, dumb chorus that would've made the Ramones proud. There are touches of Mudhoney ("Lady" is basically "Touch Me I'm Sick 2003"), Thin Lizzy, and any band made up of guys who don't think much beyond booze, girls, and sleeping in a ditch after a perfect show. --Ian Watson