On the heels of nearly two straight years of touring in support of their self-titled debut, the Datsuns had to feel spent. Oh, sure. Even I took note and found myself impressed at what seemed like a half-dozen touring trips between Europe and the States as I caught the band perform on three separate occasions. Nevertheless, the band was quick to whip up their second album Outta Site/Outta Mind in what seemed like record time as they jumped back on separate recent tours to support the likes of the Pixies and Velvet Revolver.
So, as a fan of that first release, it's only been the last
three to four weeks that I find myself really giving the band's
second effort a listen -- which, in its own right, qualifies as an
outta site, outta mind experience for me. Realizing the obvious
writing and recording time constraints surrounding this album, I
understand the lack of any real single reaching out and grabbing
me. This statement alone will probably have any reader of this
review thinking I'm heading in the direction of panning this
album.
Well, I'm not going to say this is the type of album that is going to leave any real lasting impression on most listeners. That would be too aggressive a thought. But for those of us that grew up on the hard rock '60s and '70s bands like Led Zeppelin, Cream, & Deep Purple, Outta Site/Outta Mind is an appropriate mood album to fall back on from that era.
The guitar sounds from Christian and Phil Datsun are lifted straight off the "how to sound and play like Jimmy Page" handbook. Heavy rhythm & bass guitars with quick lead break noodling in the song "I Got No Words" is probably the best curious example of this comparison on the disc, although there are plenty of other examples.
Since the vocals of Dolf Datsun come across rather muddied and slurred (maybe the Kiwi accent is to blame?), Outta Site/Outta Mind is an album that has no real choice but to fall back on the instrumental sounds throughout. Therefore, this is why the tracks lack any real identity and sound like B grade-efforts modeled on those Zeppelin and Deep Purple references of which I spoke.
Still, there's an undeniably honest vibe to the Outta Site/Outta Mind release. Even with the obvious backlash the Datsuns will inevitably receive when fans compare this disc to the their largely successful debut album, Outta Site/Outta Mind can't be deemed a failure, as it merely sounds like a stunted version of its predecessor. So, chances are that if you liked the first album, you should still make the attempt to reach for this album if you haven't done so already. To do otherwise would only prove the title of this album to be unfairly prophetic.