Released after the extraordinary expectations surrounding their debut and the John Paul Jones-produced second album, *Smoke & Mirrors* marked a deliberate reset for the New Zealand band.
by Paul Cashmere
When The Datsuns made Smoke & Mirrors in 2006, they were no longer the new band being hailed by the British music press as rock’s next big thing. Their third album was a conscious attempt to step away from those expectations, return to the way they naturally played and make a record on their own terms. Twenty years later, Smoke & Mirrors remains an important point in the story of how the Cambridge, New Zealand band rebuilt their identity after the whirlwind of their early success.
The Datsuns had taken an unusual path to their third album. Formed in Cambridge in 1998 after beginning as Trinket, the group built a reputation through live shows before relocating to London in 2002. Their self-titled debut that year became a major success in New Zealand, reaching number one, while also reaching number 17 in the UK.
The international attention was intense. The band appeared on John Peel’s BBC Radio 1 programme, landed on the cover of NME and toured extensively, including appearances at Ozzfest and the Big Day Out. Metallica also selected them as an Australian support act in 2004.
The second album, Outta Sight/Outta Mind, brought another significant name into the story. Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones produced the 2004 record, which reached number seven in New Zealand, number 41 in Australia and number 58 in the UK.
But the experience also contributed to the thinking behind Smoke & Mirrors. The Datsuns had initially recorded their debut in a direct fashion, essentially capturing songs they already knew from playing them live. By the second album, the songs and arrangements had been worked over during the touring cycle.
For the third record, the band took control themselves.
Smoke & Mirrors was produced by The Datsuns, with engineer Nick Abbott and mixer Cenzo Townshend involved in shaping the recordings. The result was a 10-track album that moved back towards the leaner hard-rock and garage-punk attack associated with the band’s beginnings.
There was also a practical reason to reduce the workload. During the Outta Sight/Outta Mind campaign, the demands of multi-format singles meant continually producing additional material for exclusive B-sides. The Datsuns had been writing at a punishing rate simply to service the release strategy.
For Smoke & Mirrors, the focus was narrowed to the album itself.
The record was not entirely a return to basics. The Datsuns introduced additional textures into their guitar-driven sound, including gospel choir backing vocals on “All Aboard” and “Too Little Fire”. Those touches gave the album a broader palette without abandoning the band’s hard-rock foundation.
The 10-song album opens with “Who Are You Stamping Your Foot For?” before moving through “System Overload”, “Waiting For Your Time To Come” and “Stuck Here For Days”. “Maximum Heartbreak” and “All Aboard” occupy the middle of the record, followed by “Such A Pretty Curse”, “Blood Red”, “Emperor’s New Clothes” and the seven-minute-plus “Too Little Fire”. The album runs for just under 38 minutes.
The commercial results were more modest than the debut but remained significant in New Zealand. Smoke & Mirrors peaked at number 16 on the New Zealand Albums Chart and number 92 in Australia. “Stuck Here For Days” reached number 23 in New Zealand, giving the album a top 30 single.
The album came at a different moment for The Datsuns. The enormous international attention that accompanied their debut had cooled, but the band had established something more durable: a catalogue built around their own songwriting and live identity rather than the expectations attached to their early reputation.
The reset continued after Smoke & Mirrors. Original drummer Matt Osment left the band and was replaced by fellow Cambridge musician Ben Cole. The Datsuns subsequently continued with Headstunts in 2008, followed by Death Rattle Boogie in 2012, Deep Sleep in 2014 and Eye To Eye in 2021.
The band’s next studio album, Moonstruck Man, is scheduled for release on 13 November 2026, placing the 20th anniversary of Smoke & Mirrors within a recording history that now spans more than two decades.
For a band that had been given enormous expectations at the height of the garage-rock revival, Smoke & Mirrors was the point where The Datsuns chose to define themselves again.
Smoke & Mirrors Tracklisting
“Who Are You Stamping Your Foot For?”
“System Overload”
“Waiting For Your Time To Come”
“Stuck Here For Days”
“Maximum Heartbreak”
“All Aboard”
“Such A Pretty Curse”
“Blood Red”
“Emperor’s New Clothes”
“Too Little Fire”
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