Hot Cakes - The Darkness

Hot Cakes – The Darkness

British rockers make their long awaited return

                Jump in your DeLorean and travel back to the magical time of 2003, Peter Jackson finished making cinematic gold with The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The world was introduced to Captain Jack Sparrow and a certain rock n roll band from Suffolk where destroying anything in their path, winning multiple Kerrang and Brit awards and coming second to the most depressing Christmas number one of all time. This band was The Darkness, their album Permission to land  was a massive part of my childhood and I (like many people of my age) consider it to be a modern classic, with tunes like I Believe in a thing called love, Black Shuck and Growing on me which are as good as any songs created by the original hair metal bands. Sadly after 2005’s One way ticket to Hell and back, which was really an album of two halves, first half being easily as good as the debut containing anthems such as the unforgettable Is it just me? But the second half of the album of the album was overblown and flabby. The less said about it the better. The band parted ways in 2007. The rest of the group (minus Justin) formed the good but not spectacular Stone Gods, whilst Justin decided against blowing coke up his nose and decided to just blow in his new and diabolical band Hot Leg. The band reunited in 2011 and received critical acclaim for their tour featuring a lucrative main support slot at the Download Festival. Apparently reinvigorated, the band began work on the tricky third album Hot Cakes.

The album see’s a return of the spontaneous fun of the first album, it sounds like the band are really enjoying themselves again allowing their personalities to become ever present especially on the second single Everybody have a good time and the added charisma of Concrete makes the track stand out from the rest and shows The Darkness were not just a flash in the pan. The Queen influence is as ever plastered all over this album in its production and song structure, the track Nothings gonna stop us could easily have appeared on A Night at the Opera with its layered harmonies and over the top bombastic production. From start to finish Hot Cakes is exactly what you would expect from The Darkness that is until track 10 hits which is a cover of Radiohead’s Street Spirit (fade out). The Darkness covering Radiohead? That’s as bizarre as Lou Reed doing an album with Metallica (oh shit I forgot that happened). Unlike that abomination the group pull off this unlikely cover adding Justin’s typical high pitched falsetto vocals and a heavier guitar tone. The album however does contain a few songs which kill the records pace and momentum especially the pointless and generally flabby ballad Forbidden love and even though the album does contain some really good songs none of them hit the heights of I Believe in a Thing Called Love or in the same league as tracks from Permission to Land.

Overall, Hot Cakes is a decent return to form for the group. They’ve stuck to what they know best and delivered exactly what their fans would want from them, With the Radiohead cover a side the album is exactly what you thought you would get from this album and for most of it the band live up to their reputation for delivering kick ass Rock N Roll anthems. It seems the band are here to stay and I for one am happy to have them back.

Rating: - 7/10

Stand out track:- Concrete

For fans of :- Queen, ACDC, Thin Lizzy