Label: Canary Dwarf
Year of release: 2012
Production: Nick Brine, Justin & Dan Hawkins
Album length: 40.39 min
Genre: Hard Rock
The controversial British 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 edge 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 knockoffs like Staind, Nickelback,… The Darkness, with their “hairdo” of unexpectedly paratrooper shock principle, which does wonders for clearing even the most stubbornly blocked seminal ducts, and a refined play of parody, “lobbed a rotten egg” at the pop culture of mass dumbing-down. Rock ‘n’ roll was back in the spotlight with the arrival of The Darkness. But it had to blow up in the UK. Not in the US, where things, as a rule, only get imitated and then sold all over again, repackaged, to the dumb masses.
Sadly, the party didn’t last long. The band called it quits in 2006, and frontman Justin Hawkins, burned out, declared that he had to step away from anything music-business-related for a while. Then last year came a turning point, when a rehabilitated Justin (cleansed of all bad habits) entered into a serious dialogue with his brother Dan, and the two unanimously decided to fire The Darkness up again. And in the original »Permission To Land« lineup, no less.
And The Darkness needed the kind of album that builds on »Permission To Land«. Not on the slightly over-produced, glossier and sweeter, yet still excellent “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« offers a raw, direct, stripped-down, primal production of true rock n’ roll hysteria. As such, its quality makes it a credible and perfectly measured, full-bodied step by the band into a new beginning. It keeps the true character of The Darkness’ typicality intact. Justin Hawkins, a man now cleansed of all the forces of evil, with his Cankar-style curled-up moustache, warbles like a little sparrow in 2012 too, and so the Darkness principle continues to stay completely soaked in outpourings of excess testosterone, while also showing a bit more arranging forethought, which of course comes with the years in which, as a musician, you ripen and grow. Their typical satire and black humor are not in short supply on »Hot Cakes«, otherwise the parody couldn’t ignite.
Here are the typical traits that have always defined The Darkness. Justin Hawkins’ at times extremely high melodic singing, which could casually crack glass several inches thick (Concrete, Forbidden Love, Love Is Not The Answer,..), slyly placed melodic hooks that pull toward old-school Queen (Forbidden Love, Nothing Gonna Stop Us Now), the 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-melancholic, 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 erectile 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 beyond. What matters most here is that the songs are varied enough from one another in their lead melodies and atmospheric development. At the same time, you get a sense of disbelief at realizing that 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 up in the full-on satire of sparkling The 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 The Darkness stay on that path with »Hot Cakes« too.
The Darkness also surprised on »Hot Cakes« with their 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 devastatingly penetrating riff, straight out of 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 brilliantly ramps up the dynamic development of the album itself and adds another special moment to it, marked by a distinct 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«. It has four bonus tracks waiting for you, of which the most interesting is surely the last one, Cannonball. In its typical “The Darkness derailment”, it draws in the collaboration of the most illustrious Jethro Tull flutist and band leader Ian Anderson, who airs the song out with his typical Jethro Tull-style soloing. Yet another incredible combination that works brilliantly. Of course, as mentioned. Available only on the limited ed
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
rating: 9.0 / 10
Tracklist:
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
Lineup:
Justin Hawkins – vocals, guitar
Dan Hawkins – guitar
Frankie Poullain – bass guitar
Ed Graham – drums
GUEST MUSICIAN:
Ian Anderson – flute on the track Connonball (included only on the limited edition of the album “Hot Cakes”)
