Track: New Zealand’s The Datsuns explode back into the ether with ‘Dehumanise’ and announcement of a new album.

It is recommended that you have your emergency contacts nearby when you intake the new single ‘Dehumanise’ by New Zealand’s Lords of Loud, The Datsuns. It has the full force a bolt of electricity administered by a faulty defibrillator and the effects will be felt in your ears hours after administration. And what a cathartic joy it is. Taken off the band’s seventh album, ‘Eye to Eye’ due on 28 May 2021 through the band’s own Hellsquad Records label, it is clear that time has not wearied this band out of the otherwise genteel burg of Cambridge in the North Island of New Zealand.

Singer and bass player Dolf Datsun (now based in Sweden) says of the track:

Dehumanise is another Sci-Fi inspired number, about being literally stripped down to your utilitarian parts by the machines and machinations around you. The main parts were written on tour, opening for Graveyard in Europe some years back. I was listening to a ton of heavy 70’s rarities at the time, sampling their drum intros in Garageband to make demos. This one features more custom fuzz guitar FX courtesy of Christian and also my first attempt at a synth solo, wild!

There are more jagged riffs than a three-day heavy metal festival and solos – guitar and keys – that literally leap from the speakers and strangulate your earlobes. The Datsuns are the yin to the yang of other fine New Zealand exports, which tend to the more restrained and delicate: The Datsuns eschew finery and go for the full blooded, unapologetic thumping injection of rock: it’s all leather jackets, motorbikes and a general air of sneery disdain. Grunge before grunge, garage, psych, metal and heavy rock: it’s all there. Listen, if you dare, and fasten your seatbelts: you will enjoy.

An additional ‘B’ side is included – ‘Negative Swing’ – which forcefully jumps on the brakes with full bikie boots and delivers a relatively calming melodic and restrained track. It is a prime slice of indie rock – chiming guitars and ringing choruses.

You can download/stream here and ‘Eye to Eye’ can be preordered here.