The Darkness, Easter Is Cancelled - album review
It's 16 years since The Darkness released Permission To Land, and it's still not 100 per cent clear whether they are being genuine or completely taking the p***.
And that's not a bad thing. A band who are willing to entertain and have a bit of fun can't go far wrong in a genre known for taking itself so seriously since the glam era largely ended.
But when they start talking about their new sixth record Easter Is Cancelled it all becomes a little clearer. They do love rock 'n' roll, and they're thoroughly annoyed with it.
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Easter Is Cancelled is their first concept album, studying the role of musicians in the modern rock world. And you can count on frontman Justin Hawkins to put it best when he says: "A lot of bands have relinquished their duty. Rock and roll is so uniform now. Everybody dresses the same, looks the same, sounds the same. It’s pathetic. It deserves to die. Let’s kill the cliché."
And that is the message in opening number Rock And Roll Deserves To Die. The biblical nature they were aiming for with the title comes to the fore through the roaring melody that immediately takes us on an aural quest. It's thunderous and features a large, harmonised chorus, acoustic elements, Justin's screeching falsetto vocals and more in a stage musical soundtrack of a song. It opens things nicely.
There's epic qualities to Heart Explodes too. More radio-friendly than a lot else here it's the 'school disco' track in the collection with its building to a heart-wrenching riff for the chorus.
"The song cycle defines human existence through a parable – the slow lingering death and eventual glorious re-birth of rock and roll," Justin adds of their latest work.
And you can't argue when you hear the title track. It's full-on, face-tearing ferocity steered from start to finish by those early-Darkness-Justin vocals. The guitars here from the Hawkins brothers are sensational.
The fun and funky Heavy Metal Lover is softer but no less fun with its tamer melody managing to open up into a dancing solo later on.
And their look into the future - the space-worthy We Are The Guitar Men - welcomes in electro tints to this Queen-esque number as Justin opines "Long live rock and roll".
This is their future, and it's now.
Rating: 7/10
The Darkness perform at Birmingham's O2 Academy on December 1
