Artist: Darkness, The
Label: Canary Dwarf
Release: 2012
Duration: 40:39
Rating: 4/5
Britain’s controversial glam rockers The Darkness properly shook things up in 2003, when their debut »Permission To Land« came out. Two years later the band hit the extreme peak of musical excess with »One Way Ticket To Hell… And Back«. At a time when MTV was ruled by bands of boundless boredom, post-grunge derivatives like Staind, Nickelback,… The Darkness, with their “hairdo” of surprise paratrooper shock principle (said to be wonderfully good for clearing even the most stubbornly blocked seminal ducts) and a finely tuned dose of parody, “tossed a rotten egg” into the pop culture of mass dumbing-down. Rock ‘n’ roll was back in the spotlight for the masses with The Darkness’s arrival. It just had to blow up in Britain. Not in the US, where things as a rule only get copied and then, repackaged, sold once more to the dim-witted masses.
Sadly, the fun didn’t last long. The band called it quits in 2006, and frontman Justin Hawkins, burnt out, declared he had to step away from anything to do with the music business for a while. Then came last year, when a rehabilitated Justin (cleansed of all bad habits) sat down for a serious talk with his brother Dan, and the two unanimously decided to fire up The Darkness again. And in the original »Permission To Land« lineup, no less.
And what The Darkness needed was the kind of album that builds on »Permission To Land«. Not on the slightly overproduced, glossier and sweeter, but still great »hit maker« follow-up »One Way Ticket To Hell… And Back«, which finally “conquered” the masses in the US too! The Darkness had to go back down to their roots once more, to remember the very essence of rock rhetoric! »Hot Cakes« serves up raw, direct, stripped-down, primal production of true rock n’ roll hysteria. As such, its quality makes it a credible, properly measured, full-bodied step by the band into a new beginning. It keeps the true character of The Darkness’s trademark sound. Justin Hawkins, now cleansed of all evil forces, with his Cankar-style curled-up mustache, still chirps like a little sparrow in 2012, and so The Darkness principle keeps on being completely soaked in outbursts of surplus testosterone, while adding a bit more arranging thoughtfulness, which of course comes with the years in which, as a musician, you ripen and grow up. There’s no shortage of the typical satire and black humor on »Hot Cakes«, otherwise the parody just wouldn’t ignite.
All the trademarks that have always defined The Darkness are here. Justin Hawkins’s extremely high melodic singing at moments, the kind that can crack glass several decimeters thick without breaking a sweat (Concrete, Forbidden Love, Love Is Not The Answer,..), slyly placed melodic hooks that pull toward the old school of Queen (Forbidden Love, Nothing Gonna Stop Us Now), signature stripped-down riffs that channel a blend of AC/DC rhetoric (She’s Just A Girl, Eddie), laced with the melodic figuration of the British melancholy, classically tinged approach of old-school heavy rockers U.F.O.
The album grabs you by the ears right away and, in its highly durable erect stance, doesn’t let up until the end. From Every Inch Of You, Nothing Gonna Stop Us Now, With A Woman, to Keep Me hangin On and onwards. What matters most is that the songs are varied enough from one another in their lead melodies and atmospheric development. At the same time, it fills you with a sense of disbelief: every single song will remind you of something. Something old, old-school rock, yet on the other hand you won’t be able to pin down exactly what it might be. Simply because everything The Darkness do is so nicely wrapped in the full-on satire of that sparkling Darkness comedy, which sends the listener off onto completely idiosyncratic tracks. The Darkness tracks, that is! Feelings like that are rare in rock music. But they’re typical of a healthy kind of parody. And with »Hot Cakes« too, The Darkness stay on this path.
The Darkness also surprised on »Hot Cakes« by including a cover of Street Spirit (Fade Out), originally by Radiohead. Unbelievable, but true! This song carries a dark veil that’s not exactly an everyday thing for The Darkness. A devastating, penetrating riff, coming straight from the jurisdiction of the good old N.W.O.B.H.M. movement, is the core that drives this excellent cover at full gallop. As such, it nicely ramps up the album’s dynamic development and adds one more special moment to it, marked by its own particular mood. Proper old-school shrapnel that smells of the earliest Iron Maiden.
The most devoted among you will track down the limited-quantity but content-expanded edition of »Hot Cakes«. Four additional songs await you on it, and the most interesting of them is surely the last one, Cannonball. In its typical »The Darkness derailment«, it pulls in the most illustrious Jethro Tull flutist and bandleader Ian Anderson, who airs out the song with his trademark Jethro Tull-style soloing. Another unbelievable combination that works great. Of course, as said. Available only on the limited edition of »Hot Ckakes«.
The character of this album loudly knocks home the realization that you simply have to go see The Darkness live. This is a band born for the stage. The sonic homogeneity and compactness, as well as the arranging insight built on the principle of »less is more«, keep the foundation of The Darkness definition intact on »Hot Cakes« too, while all that sparkling rock’ n’ roll allure makes it clear that its message is fully realized only in a live stage performance!
»Hot Cakes«, with its satire, comedy and newfound maturity and thoughtfulness (something new for Justin Hawkins), returns the band to its former spot on the rock map, even if The Darkness can’t set things on fire quite as hot today as they did in 2003 (times change, and so do the generations of the masses). At the same time, »Hot Cakes« maintains an even more essential point of The Darkness’s whole deal. With »Hot Cakes«, rock ‘n’ roll stays slyly infiltrated in the immodest pop culture of the MTV format. The recent tour proved it, when The Darkness opened shows across Eastern Europe for Lady Ga Ga. It seems terrifying and, in past eras of rock music, utterly unacceptable, but there’s nothing to worry about for the new millennium, since The Darkness, with their pinch of parody, are an attractive band that knows how to write and arrange excellent songs, which are a healthy way to feed the narrowly defined comprehension of music of the gray masses! Tight spandex, curled mustaches, headstands, bared chicken chests,… All of it holds up. Simple as that. The Darkness are far too good musicians to make fools of themselves. Deliver more goods like this, boys!
Lineup
Justin Hawkins – vocals, guitar
Dan Hawkins – guitar
Frankie Poullain – bass
Ed Graham – drums
GUEST MUSICIAN:
Ian Anderson – flute on the song Connonball (included only on the limited edition of the album “Hot Cakes”)
Production
Nick Brine, Justin Hawkins & Dan Hawkins
Track list
1. Every Inch of You
2. Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us
3. With a Woman
4. Keep Me Hanging On
5. Living Each Day Blind
6. Everybody Have a Good Time
7. She Just a Girl, Eddie
8. Forbidden Love
9. Concrete
10. Street Spirit
11. Love is Not The Answer
