The Datsuns are a hard rock band from Cambridge, New Zealand, formed in 1998. Founding mainstays are Rudolf "Dolf" de Borst on vocals and bass guitar, and Christian Livingstone and Phil Somervell, both on guitar. They have released seven albums, with their debut self-titled album from October 2002 peaking at no. 1 in New Zealand and reaching the top 20 on the United Kingdom's Official Charts. They had relocated to London in 2002. Their second album, Outta Sight/Outta Mind (May 2004), appeared at no. 7 in New Zealand and top 60 in the UK. Smoke & Mirrors (2006) peaked in the top 20 in New Zealand. Early drummer Matt Osment was replaced by Ben Cole after that album. Their top 40 singles in the UK are "In Love" and "Harmonic Generator" (both in 2002). In New Zealand, their highest-charting single, "Stuck Here for Days" (2006), reached the top 30.

History

In 1995, while still at secondary school in Cambridge, New Zealand, Rudolf "Dolf" de Borst on vocals and bass guitar, Matt Osment on drums, and Phil Somervell on guitar formed a hard rock band, Trinket. Christian Livingstone joined in 1997 as their second guitarist and they entered a Battle of the Bands competition. Australian music journalist Ed Nimmervoll compared the first two albums, where during their studio sessions "[they] just pressed record and played the songs they'd been playing live. The lyrics for the first album were stream of consciousness, the lyrics for the second album [were] more considered having been refined while on the road."

Following a long period of inactivity, in February 2021 the band released the single "Brain To Brain": their first new music in seven years and a lead single for the album Eye To Eye, which was released on 28 May 2021.

Discography

Albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|-

! rowspan="2" | Year

! rowspan="2" | Title

! rowspan="2" | Details

! colspan="3" | Peak chart<br />positions

|-

! NZ

! AUS

! UK

|-

| 2002

| The Datsuns

|

  • Released: 18 October 2002
  • Label: Hellsquad Records, In-Fidelity Recordings, V2 Records
  • Catalogue: HS009

| align="center" | 1

| align="center" | 73

| align="center" | 17

|-

| 2004

| Outta Sight/Outta Mind

|

  • Released: 2 May 2004
  • Label: Hellsquad Records, V2 Records
  • Catalogue: HS022

| align="center" | 7

| align="center" | 41

| align="center" | 58

|-

| 2006

| Smoke & Mirrors

|

  • Released: 2 October 2006
  • Label: Hellsquad Records, EMI, V2 Records
  • Catalogue: HS031

| align="center" | 16

| align="center" | 92

| align="center" | 189

|-

| 2008

| Headstunts

|

  • Released: 12 October 2008
  • Label: Hellsquad Records, Cooking Vinyl
  • Catalogue: HS035

| align="center" | —

| align="center" | —

| align="center" | —

|-

| 2012

| Death Rattle Boogie

|

  • Released: 5 October 2012
  • Label: Hellsquad Records
  • Catalogue: HS037

| align="center" | —

| align="center" | —

| align="center" | —

|-

| 2014

| Deep Sleep

|

  • Released: 3 October 2014
  • Label: Hellsquad Records
  • Catalogue: HS039

| align="center" | 26

| align="center" |

| align="center" | —

|-

| 2021

| Eye to Eye

|

  • Released: 28 May 2021
  • Label: Hellsquad Records
  • Catalogue: HS043

| align="center" | —

| align="center" |

| align="center" | —

|-

|colspan="6" style="font-size:90%" align="center" | "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

|}

Extended plays

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|-

! scope="col" | Year

! scope="col" | Title

! scope="col" | Details

|-

| rowspan=2 | 2003

| MF from Hell

|

  • Released: 25 March 2003
  • Label: Hellsquad, V2 Records
  • Catalogue: HS014, HS015

|-

| Harmonic Generator

|

  • Released: April 9 2003
  • Label: V2 Records

|-

| 2006

| Stuck Here for Days

|

  • Released: 25 June 2006
  • Label: Hellsquad Records, EMI, V2 Records
  • Catalogue: HS028

|-

| colspan="3" style="font-size:90%" align="center" | "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

|-

|}

Singles

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|-

! rowspan="2" width="1em" | Year

! rowspan="2" | Title

! colspan="3" width="3em" | Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2" | Album

|-

! NZ<br />

| align="center" | —

| align="center" | —

| Eye to Eye

|-

|colspan="6" style="font-size:90%" align="center" | "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

|}

Notes

References

  • Interview with the Datsuns about Head Stunts