I must admit to having a bit of a love/hate relationship with The Darkness. Seen as the metal band it’s ok to like by the Radio 1 listeners 20 years ago, but ostracised by the rock community for being the band it’s uncool to like. 

As with many bands of their ilk, The Darkness have done the sex, drugs and rock n’ roll to the max, and are still here to tell the tale. 20 years down the road, they remain top songwriters, a fully entertaining live band and they’ve gone a long way to prove they are more than just a novelty act. 

The power pop induced goodness of recent singles ‘The Longest Kiss’ and ‘I Hate Myself’ prove Justin Hawkins is doing something right and certainly piqued my interest in the run up to the release of their 8th album  ‘Dreams On Toast’. The former sounds like Jellyfish jamming with ELO, the latter a 70’s styled glam stomper, they are both excellent earworms up there with the best singles released so far this year.

But what about the rest of the album, pray tell? Well, Justin Hawkins is a man who is always ready to embrace the theatrical side of rock n’ roll; he gets the humour and the utterly ridiculous nature of the more flamboyant avenues of rock’s past. It wouldn’t be The Darkness any other way, right kids? I mean, who would open their album with a dumb-ass pastiche to 80’s metal, filled with cliched lyrics and second-hand Ratt riffs? ‘Rock And Roll Party Cowboy’ is exactly that. A bit of a weird album opener if you ask me, but it is a grower. 

But The Darkness ain’t a one-trick pony. The band are mixing it up, and the surprising strengths of ‘Dreams On Toast’ lie in its diversity.

Yes, there’s the generic balls to the wall rock of ‘Mortal Dread’ and ‘Walking On Fire’, both punchy as fuck and full of heavy, AC/DC riffage. Yet, at the other end of the spectrum we have a countrified ode to male bottom burps whilst shagging, cunningly titled ‘Hot On My Tail’, and the folk inspired ‘Cold Hearted Woman’. Both emit feelings of sentiment, but Justin’s clever tongue-in-cheek lyricism remind you not to get too sentimental.

Elsewhere, the piano-led ‘Don’t Need Sunshine’ closes side 1 and channels those classic Queen meets ELO vibes with a soulful melody and sweet, multilayered vocals. It’s 70s rock balladry at its finest. 

Side 2 sees another curveball in the shape of ‘The Battle For Gadget Land’. Here, the band deliver indie style stabbing guitars and urgent beats before a breakdown with a camp, spoken word section that takes us into Tim Curry/Danny Elfman territory. 

Things get even weirder on closer ‘Weekend In Rome’, a song that aims to conjure cinematic soundscapes but falls short of the mark.

If you dig falsetto vocals, twin guitar harmonies, tongue in cheek lyricism and general bad-assery, go buy a Steel Panther album! Failing that, give the new Darkness long player a go, it has all that and more. A diverse album that is all over the place, but it sort of works. At just over 30 minutes long, it never outstays its welcome and begs to be played again and again. 

Is it the best album of the year? No. Is it the funniest album of the year? Possibly. Is it the funniest and best Darkness album for years? Definitely. 

Buy Here

Author: Ben Hughes